A brand new period of Patriots soccer is underway, and New England might need a very revamped quarterback room.
Head coach Jerod Mayo already pledged his allegiance to veteran Jacoby Brissett because the Patriots’ Week 1 starter. New England chosen North Carolina star Drake Maye with the No. Three total choose within the 2024 NFL Draft, however will probably be affected person with the event of its future franchise quarterback.
QBs 1 and a couple of are set in stone for the 2024 season, however the Patriots have a heated battle on their fingers for the No. Three QB.
Bailey Zappe is getting into his third season with New England and presently holds the third-string job, however a brand new rookie quarterback is difficult him for his spot.
Meet Joe Milton III — the electrifying dual-threat quarterback who might earn a spot on the Patriots’ depth chart.
MORE PRESEASON: Week 1 rookie QB grades | Week 1 overreactions
Who’s Joe Milton III?
Milton is a 24-year-old rookie quarterback from Pahokee, Fla.
The Patriots took a flier on Milton within the sixth spherical (choose No. 193) of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Tennessee.
Milton performed six seasons of school soccer, beginning his profession at Michigan.
He was a backup for his first two years and earned the beginning job in 2020, however the season was shortened to 6 video games resulting from COVID-19. Milton ultimately cut up time with backup quarterback Cade McNamara after Michigan began the season 1-Four and completed with a 2-Four report.
Milton transferred to Tennessee for the 2021 season and earned the beginning job, however an damage pressured him to a backup position behind Hendon Hooker. Hooker carried that momentum to change into the Volunteers’ starter in 2022, however roles reversed. Hooker received injured with two video games left within the season and Milton took over the beginning job.
Milton closed that season with among the finest video games of his school profession, torching Clemson for 251 yards, three touchdowns, and 0 interceptions to win the Orange Bowl.
Hooker graduated after that season, paving the best way for Milton to be Tennessee’s beginning quarterback in 2023.
As an excellent senior, Milton threw for two,813 yards and 20 touchdowns with simply 5 interceptions. He additionally added 299 speeding yards and 7 touchdowns on the bottom.
His 4.53 40-yard sprint pace and cannon arm earned him a have a look at the NFL degree and now, he is combating for a job on the Patriots.
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Joe Milton III school stats
Milton was solely a full-time starter for one school season, watering down his stats. He threw for five,353 yards and 37 touchdowns with 11 interceptions and a 61.6 completion proportion. He additionally rushed for 661 yards and 12 touchdowns on the bottom.
Yow will discover Milton’s year-by-year school stats beneath.
| Yr | College | Class | GP | Cmp-Att | Pct. | Yds | TD | INT |
| 2018 | Michigan | FR | 4 | 3-4 | 75.0 | 58 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019 | Michigan | SO | 4 | 3-7 | 42.9 | 59 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | Michigan | JR | 6 | 80-141 | 56.7 | 1077 | 4 | 4 |
| 2021 | Tennessee | JR | 8 | 32-61 | 52.5 | 375 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | Tennessee | SR | 9 | 53-82 | 64.6 | 971 | 10 | 0 |
| 2023 | Tennessee | SR | 12 | 229-354 | 64.7 | 2813 | 20 | 5 |
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Will Joe Milton III win Patriots third-string QB job?
Anticipate head coach Mayo to let Zappe and Milton battle it out for the third-string quarterback job all through the Patriots’ three preseason video games.
Within the preseason opener, Brissett solely performed one drive and Maye solely performed six snaps. Zappe spent the vast majority of the time below heart, however Milton made probably the most of his alternative.
Zappe threw for 108 yards and accomplished 12 of his 20 cross makes an attempt however did not do a lot that popped off the display. Milton, then again, had one electrifying run to maintain a play alive and threw a dart of a 38-yard landing to place the sport away within the fourth quarter.
JOE MILTON HAS ARRIVED ‼️
pic.twitter.com/5LH3d7COg2— PFF (@PFF) August 9, 2024
He has often proven off his rocket arm and game-changing pace, however Mayo took a Belichickian strategy to the noise across the rookie QB’s first exhibition sport.
“Yeah, you realize, simply watching Joe run round and that athleticism is all the time a welcome sight. In saying that, there are nonetheless issues for him to work on,” Mayo advised reporters, in response to NESN. “One factor can be ball safety. I do know it appeared cool, nevertheless it’s all the time a harmful factor, swinging the ball round like that. However it is a man who’s working laborious each single day and getting higher.”
At one level throughout coaching camp, The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin went so far as to say Milton was outplaying Maye in observe.
The Patriots already know what they’ve in Zappe. He has been a backup for 2 seasons and even gained 4 video games as an interim starter over that span, however he has a transparent ceiling. Milton would give New England a brand new improvement challenge, and his instruments and athleticism have a limitless ceiling of potential.
Zappe can be the secure selection as a 3rd quarterback, however Milton might flip into an affect participant that nobody ever noticed coming.
