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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It appears that Michigan has found it’s QB1 this year, with reports coming that Joe Milton won the starting job over Dylan McCaffrey. With McCaffrey intending to transfer, all of Michigan’s eggs are now in the Milton basket.
One benefactor of that battle win may be sophomore Giles Jackson, the speedy wide receiver from Antioch, California who’s spent a lot of time developing a bond with Milton on and off the field this offseason.
“Me and Joe, we’re real tight,” Jackson said. “We live about 30 seconds away from each other. So I’m always with him, we’re (working) to get better, watching film. The offseason, we were getting together, throwing footballs a lot. So that’s just helped – to have a good bond.”
While we haven’t seen much from Milton on the field just yet — he’s played just 47 snaps, completing 6 of 11 passes for 117 yards with one touchdown to two interceptions, while also rushing 12 times for 47 yards and two touchdowns — all we’ve heard about is how strong his arm is.
Milton has said he’s been trying to add more touch, but the throwing prowess still tends to stand out to Jackson, first and foremost.
“Joe has a strong arm – one of the strongest arms I’ve ever seen,” Jackson said. “I know in practice one time, he threw this deep ball and I was like 70 yards out. And he just launched it. I thought he threw it late, but the ball beat me to my spot. I was like, ‘Whoa.’ He has an arm like I’ve never seen before.”
Now that he’s the unquestioned leader, Milton has to work to put the offense on his back. It’s something he’s been prepared for though, Jackson says.
“He’s just more focused, I’d say,” Jackson said. “I could tell, as soon as this offseason, he was like a whole different person – he was more serious, more focused. You could tell he wanted it, he wanted to play and he was more locked in.”
Michigan is set to open the 2020 season on Oct. 24, but a schedule has yet to be released by the Big Ten.
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