On Monday, Milton announced he was officially joining Tennessee’s football program under first-year head coach Josh Heupel.
Following Milton’s announcement, Donovan Dooley, founder of Quarterback University, joined the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days” to discuss the Vols’ new signal-caller.
Dooley has worked with Milton, helping him train and develop. He discussed how Milton is a good fit for Heupel’s offensive scheme.
“I have been working with Joe for awhile now,” Dooley said. “Joe is going to bring some excitement to the University of Tennessee. Joe is obviously a massive man. I think the system fits Joe. I also think the staff is definitely going to develop Joe and continue to develop him through his duration at Tennessee.
“I think he is going to move the team forward. Ultimately what Joe has, he has the ability to make any throw on the football field. He has the ability to extend plays, savvy in the pocket, he is a grinder, very confident, coachable guy and a ton of moxie. I think he is going to do really well.”
The 6-foot-5, 243-pound Milton appeared in 14 games for Michigan from 2018-20. He totaled 1,194 passing yards, five touchdowns, six interceptions, 156 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.
His size is similar to Cam Newton (6-foot-6, 250-pounds) and Tim Tebow’s (6-foot-3, 245-pounds) when playing in the Southeastern Conference. Both had success running the ball in schemes that catered to their size in the SEC.
In Heupel’s spread-iso offense, tight ends are used in a variety of ways to provide rushing success. Rushing success works hand-in-hand with the passing game, whether it be vertical attempts using wide splits or shallow concepts.
Heupel’s offense features a tight end in a sniffer set at times.
When playing against a four down defense, an even front, a sniffer allows for an angle on the inside of a zone-gap scheme.
Tight ends also provide success against an odd front.
Against an odd front, a tight end on the wing against a 3-3 stack or a 3-4 look, can force a 9-technique, who is unaccounted for in the C gap, to have a body in front of them.
A 9-technique is a speed pass rusher who aligns outside of the offensive tackle. The purpose of a 9-technique is to get to the quarterback and create a presence in the backfield.
The offense can now run power, inside-trap or counter with multiple double-team blockers. The quarterback can also keep the ball after reading the defense. As a ball-carrier, Milton’s size can become an issue for defenders to tackle him in the second and third levels.
“In terms of read zone, understanding protections or what not, with declarations, I think Joe is going to do really well,” Dooley said of Milton. “The conference does have a lot teams that run 30 fronts. I think for Joe, just understanding hots, protections, alerts, I think he is going to be right on par with that.”
Milton also has the ability to move the ball in a quarterback power-read when the frontside of the offensive line is down-blocking, while the backside guard pulls into the hole.
His size allows for him to be productive in quarterback counter plays using 2×1 sets with a tight end being featured as a blocking H-back. These sets are ideal in short-yardage and red zone opportunities.
The entire show with Dooley can be listened to here or below.