Feels like someone here has said this.
Josh Pate: “Now this is not a team that is going to contend for a national championship, but this is a team that is going to be very fun to watch. Because there’s going to be a variance. A wide variance. Several games, potentially, depending on how this whole quarterback situation pans out. And it’s a unique quarterback situation at Tennessee because it’s not like LSU was shaping up to be, where it was going to be a classic two-man fight. It was going to be Myles Brennan and Max Johnson.
“Here, it’s a solid four-corners match … to steal a pro wrestling reference. Colin (Late Kick director) follows Tennessee very closely. And you’ve got the Hendon Hooker crowd out there. You’ve got the (Brian) Mauerpower crowd. But more recently Harrison Bailey and the hype behind Joe Milton is what’s been strongest.
“Now Joe Milton is a guy who came in over the summer from Michigan. This is a time of year, and it’s a time of camp, where I would just caution you to be very careful. Because there are stars made at the quarterback position every August without fail during the acclimation period. This period — before any live bullets are flying, before any quarterbacks are being touched or pads have gone on — is perfectly conditioned to showcase guys with live arms. And Joe Milton has got the livest arm in Knoxville, Tennessee — at least with eligibility to play at the university of.
“So Joe Milton looks like a star every bit the way he looked like a star this time last year when he was at Michigan. Because it was just about this time last year where we started to hear it. It was a soft drum beat. And then it was a louder drum beat … we started to hear what ended up crescendoing into Cam Newton comparisons. That’s not made up. That’s not fabricated. That’s real. There were Cam Newton comparisons off in the Michigan Twitter ether about Joe Milton and his potential. Well, Joe Milton did not have Cam Newton upside.
“Joe Milton had some of the tools that Cam Newton possesses. He’s really big, he’s really physical and he can throw the football about a quarter of a mile. What they’re eventually going to have to find out at Tennessee is whether he can make simple check downs, simple reads. Can he put some touch on the ball? If you have a back coming out of the backfield and you need to put it over his shoulder, can he do that? Can he get checks done at the line of scrimmage in the manner in which Josh Heupel is going to demand that his starting quarterback be able to do?
“I’m not trying to sit here and knock Joe Milton out of the race by any stretch. He may very well be the starter. What I’m trying to do is temper, somewhat at least for the time being, some of the expectations that were blowing up over the weekend, when some of those first whispers and intel out of Knoxville started to come out. And lo and behold, the guy with the strongest arm of the team looks really good when all we’re really doing is throwing against air out here. It’s to be expected.
“I still think this is wide open. I still have my money on Harrison Bailey, but there is very little smart money in the room right now. Even for people close to the program, I don’t think there’s a ton of smart money. Because even if you’re close to the program, what do you really know? You have a brand new staff in there. And the quarterback that is allegedly the leader in the clubhouse just got here. So he really has not a whole lot of rapport built up with the coaching staff. So there’s a lot that remains to be seen in the Tennessee quarterback battle.”
Josh Pate: “Now this is not a team that is going to contend for a national championship, but this is a team that is going to be very fun to watch. Because there’s going to be a variance. A wide variance. Several games, potentially, depending on how this whole quarterback situation pans out. And it’s a unique quarterback situation at Tennessee because it’s not like LSU was shaping up to be, where it was going to be a classic two-man fight. It was going to be Myles Brennan and Max Johnson.
“Here, it’s a solid four-corners match … to steal a pro wrestling reference. Colin (Late Kick director) follows Tennessee very closely. And you’ve got the Hendon Hooker crowd out there. You’ve got the (Brian) Mauerpower crowd. But more recently Harrison Bailey and the hype behind Joe Milton is what’s been strongest.
“Now Joe Milton is a guy who came in over the summer from Michigan. This is a time of year, and it’s a time of camp, where I would just caution you to be very careful. Because there are stars made at the quarterback position every August without fail during the acclimation period. This period — before any live bullets are flying, before any quarterbacks are being touched or pads have gone on — is perfectly conditioned to showcase guys with live arms. And Joe Milton has got the livest arm in Knoxville, Tennessee — at least with eligibility to play at the university of.
“So Joe Milton looks like a star every bit the way he looked like a star this time last year when he was at Michigan. Because it was just about this time last year where we started to hear it. It was a soft drum beat. And then it was a louder drum beat … we started to hear what ended up crescendoing into Cam Newton comparisons. That’s not made up. That’s not fabricated. That’s real. There were Cam Newton comparisons off in the Michigan Twitter ether about Joe Milton and his potential. Well, Joe Milton did not have Cam Newton upside.
“Joe Milton had some of the tools that Cam Newton possesses. He’s really big, he’s really physical and he can throw the football about a quarter of a mile. What they’re eventually going to have to find out at Tennessee is whether he can make simple check downs, simple reads. Can he put some touch on the ball? If you have a back coming out of the backfield and you need to put it over his shoulder, can he do that? Can he get checks done at the line of scrimmage in the manner in which Josh Heupel is going to demand that his starting quarterback be able to do?
“I’m not trying to sit here and knock Joe Milton out of the race by any stretch. He may very well be the starter. What I’m trying to do is temper, somewhat at least for the time being, some of the expectations that were blowing up over the weekend, when some of those first whispers and intel out of Knoxville started to come out. And lo and behold, the guy with the strongest arm of the team looks really good when all we’re really doing is throwing against air out here. It’s to be expected.
“I still think this is wide open. I still have my money on Harrison Bailey, but there is very little smart money in the room right now. Even for people close to the program, I don’t think there’s a ton of smart money. Because even if you’re close to the program, what do you really know? You have a brand new staff in there. And the quarterback that is allegedly the leader in the clubhouse just got here. So he really has not a whole lot of rapport built up with the coaching staff. So there’s a lot that remains to be seen in the Tennessee quarterback battle.”
