Patriots
Milton will already have a couple of familiar faces on the roster, having played with Mike Onwenu and Josh Uche at Michigan.
The Patriots turned a few heads on Day 3 of the NFL Draft, when they selected Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III in the sixth round.
New England already made a strong statement of its future plans on Thursday, drafting Drake Maye No. 3 overall. But, as Jerod Mayo pointed out during his post-draft press conference, competition is never a bad thing.
So, in slides Milton, who himself alluded that the Patriots weren’t the team he was expecting to come calling for him, but that he’s happy they did.
“You just never know where you will end up, so I was just waiting on my phone call,” Milton said.
Here are four things to know about the other new QB in Foxborough:
Milton’s college football journey is one of the intriguing paths made possible only by COVID-19. He began playing college football at Michigan in 2018, and didn’t see much game action until the 2020 season, which was shortened by the pandemic.
Milton began that year as the starter, but lost his job to Cade McNamara, and wound up at Tennessee the following season. He used his final three years of eligibility with the Vols, and racked up over 3,000 all-purpose yards in 2023.
He already has at least two familiar faces in the Patriots locker room.
Milton will be reunited with two of his former teammates at Michigan when he arrives in Foxborough. He played with both Mike Onwenu and Josh Uche during his three years with the Wolverines.
When put on the spot, Milton couldn’t think of any other current Patriots he already has deep ties with, but he was excited to establish a relationship with fellow Vol and new head coach Jerod Mayo.
“It’s great to always have two VFLs (Vols for Life) in the building, especially somewhere else other than Knoxville,” Milton told reporters. “So, just for us to reconnect and get to know each other is going to be great.”
An injury to Milton paved the way for a different NFL draft selection.
Back when Milton first arrived at Tennessee back in 2021, he earned the starting job. He didn’t get to keep it very long though; an injury sidelined him not long into the season.
The QB that took over for him? 2023 Draftee Hendon Hooker.
Hooker didn’t relinquish the starting role and due to that, Milton’s opportunities on the field were scarce until Hooker was drafted in the third round last year.
He can throw an orange really, really far.
Immediately upon being selected by the Patriots, a video resurfaced of Milton showing off his arm strength ahead of the Orange Bowl.
In doing so, Milton threw an orange a ridiculous distance, starting in one endzone and launching the fruit the entire length of the field, hitting a wall behind the opposite endzone.
Somehow, Milton thinks he could have thrown it even farther.
“That was right after practice and that was a game week, so it was pretty tough to throw it as far as I wanted to, just because my arm was already tired from practice,” Milton said. “But I feel like if I was given an orange again, I would throw it further than that for sure.”
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