What are the chances DeonG is excitedly waiting to swoop back into this thread and crow if things go bad? 100%? 200%?
Heupel looked genuinely excited about Milton when I was watching Marty and McGee waiting for the vandy game to start. If he feels that good about it I’m not going to worry.
He is what he is. Not very good but ok. Great guy. Hate it all for him as he stuck it out. Now I’m mean this in the nicest way but with his size why not find a better position for him? Maybe he could contribute or play next level at TE. Or maybe he somehow get it magically
Is this you trying to preempt revisiting the discussion again with the addition of data that doesn't support your position?
No, he doesn't. There's plenty of QBs and QB performances to look back on in just the past 10 years to quantify suck, and Joe Milton has not reached that low. He is mid. And the fact that our OL is playing like stinking dog shit is exacerbating that. His numbers, even against Florida, aren't terrible. On top of that, the portal guy you brought in to be your big play guy keeps dropping big play balls. The only reason there is so much fervor around our QB is the excitement about the potential of his backup. I, too, would like to see what Nico can do in this offense, and I believe his ceiling is way higher. But he's still a freshman, and even the talent and intangibles that he does have, doesn't transform a team with an inconsistent O-Line and two consistent recievers into last years offense. And more than that, I would also like to see if this staff is capable of adjusting and not being dependent on an elite QB to put up big offensive numbers. This was the final question I had about Heupel's program. The offense was working because Hooker can process amazingly and use his athleticism to make plays(something that people didn't recognize early on in his time here). With Joe, and this amazing stable of backs and a couple of vastly underrated tight ends, can you create a more intricate running game? Can you add some more personnel packages and unmarry yourself from the go-go-go aspect a bit? Because if so he'll be very successful. If the speed of the offense continues to be the only theme, then you're going to have to settle for some real mid seasons. But I know Heupel has it in him. He has to know that he can't just run last years offense with this personnel. 4 games in, he knows this offenses strengths and weaknesses. Lets see if they have the chops.
To be fair to Kid there are two posts by me in this thread where I have been dead wrong. This offense is not in the same realm as last year's, and Milton does not look to be in any kind national conversation at all.
We all talked about expecting the offense to take a step back. I believe we are #6 in D1 in avg ypc. Top 10 in rushing. It is what it is. Different team than last year. Different OC, qb, center, RT and Hyatt not out there able to run by somebody on every play to stretch it. We don’t have the speed or time. They say Donte can run but it takes him too long to get moving. Fans keep wanting last year and should’ve known the numbers and Hookers numbers were not going to be the norm. Milton still just thrown 1 int and we have a top 20 rushing offense. That will win games if our D can get off the field.
We all did. Missing Pili has hurt. We are worse at lb than last year. Dbs don’t seem to have played that bad outside of a few obvious plays but we run defenses where we coach them to guard grass on 3rd downs. UF I believe had 3 drives over 7 minutes. That just can’t happen.
Milton isn't bad, he's just not good, especially in this offense. Utilize his legs, call designed run plays for him (because he isn't going to process quick enough that he just needs to run) and make teams get out of zone coverage.