I know there are a few on this board that think Milton can do no wrong and folks are being too harsh on a QB that has made 3 starts to date. I went back and saw both the IU and MSU games after watching Wisconsin maul us. Here's my overall take and why I have significant concerns on Milton:
- Milton started 1 semester early then the rest of his class so he could get a grasp of our offense. Essentially he has been on the team now for a full 3 years for all practical purposes. However his fundamentals of being a QB are lacking. His deep ball is a line drive that is up for grabs for anyone near it. When he is protected he overthrows his balls by 10 yards. When he adds touch to his throws he under throws and gets intercepted (3 of his 4 were that way). He does not understand the meaning of throwing the ball away. When his play in a clock management situation does not work he just stands there as opposed to trying to get his team to line up quickly. His basic skills you would expect any QB to have are just not there. There is a reason most fast ball pitchers (that exclusively only have a fast ball) are closers and no starting pitchers - you need variety to your game.
- The whole - "he is in his 4th start" nonsense is that - nonsense. Speight in his first 4 starts was great. Henne, Denard, etc. There is a laundry list of players not just at Michigan but around the country that have the ability to demonstrate greater skill and polish at his point in their careers or even if they are younger. Milton is clearly not anywhere near the upper or mid-upper echelon of players. And I also don't want to hear that all other players have had a better team around them, etc etc etc. That is not true. If Milton falls while running is it the turf's fault? He needs to own to the fact that he is playing like a D+ QB at this point.
- On the 4th start thing - he has gotten to make 4 starts WITHOUT FANS!!! Imagine if he actually had to play in front of 110K fans, or if he had to go on the road and play in a hostile environment. I am sorry but most first time starters struggle with the moment being too big when there are eyes in the stadium watching them - perhaps he gets jittered by the cut out photos of Brady and Jalen Rose???
- After the MSU game he said "this is on me, I was not calm". Well that is great for owning that but you have laid a stinker since then including 4 INTs in a matter or 18 minutes. You called yourself out but you have shown no ability to do what you said you need to.
- This is Michigan. I hate when I see "look at Rocky" or "look at this and that". You CAN NOT compare a lesser school with 2-star QBs and their starts to a QB at Michigan. You spend the past 2 years posting on Twitter about how you are putting in all the work, etc etc etc and how you wanted your shot. Well you have your shot but quite frankly all your hard work is not amounting to what it takes to be a Michigan QB. You don't get to ride in training wheels as a junior at Michigan if you want to be great.
- The job of a QB is to be the leader of the offense and read defenses. I am sorry that is just the QBs job. Regardless of whether you are a true freshman or a Junior making starts without any fans in empty stadiums. That is a big big part of your job and I have seen nothing that demonstrates that he as the ability to do so. In the past 2 games - kudos to Gatis - we had some pretty incredible play calls where we had WRs running WIDE open and at least 10 times Milton just completely missed his throws - by a lot - oh and the OL kept hin clean on those plays. You have freshmen WRs, put them in a position to win. Don't tell me you are young too - you have been in the program for essentially 3 years - these FR WRs look up to you - put them in a position to succeed. Even the announcers yesterday said 'trust your eyes' and he does not. He either locks in or panics and almost seems afraid to take a hit.
- On the leadership element - against IU on 2 drives after which he scored a TD he was on the sidelines laughing...while we were still down 10 points. Stat padding does not win games. While Gardner is one of my favorite players from this past decade that is the one thing I hated about him - he would sit on the sidelines laughing and relaxing in Hoke's last 2 years when we were getting hammered by teams. It was almost as though losing was ok and Milton, young man, develop some fire in your belly. You should be all over your OL and tell them they need to keep scoring and put their foot on the pedal as opposed to feeling great that you scored. Nothing about the past 3 games has been funny and even former players - from all eras - called this out yesterday in the game. The body language across the board is pathetic and if a QB is the leader of the offense - it starts with you.
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