Thoughts on our QBs

[VinnieVOL]

The overwhelming sense I think most Vol fans came away from game 1 with was disappointment in the passing game.  Sure, a 30 pt win is a win.  But we’re all tired of poor qb play and have no patience for it at this point.

I’m holding out hope that JH is a better handler of qbs than his predecessor.  But, what’s the point which we gotta give another guy the ball, do you guys think?  Is it if Milton shows the same play vs Pitt?  Maybe give another guy the TN tech game as qb1 before Florida?  Or does Milton need more time to find the groove and get to the UF game no matter what?

It’s a fine line to me, between yanking a guy too soon and riding with him too long.  The JG experience really has us all on edge, I think.  What say y’all?

[Creek Walker]

My thought (fear?) is that Heupel recruited Milton, so Milton will be his guy to the bitter end. We all sensed that Pruitt was loyal to JG to a fault, and I can see the same being true of Heupel and Milton.

OTOH, it's easy to see what Heupel sees in Milton. I choose to ignore that he's already seasoned and played the same way at Michigan that he played against Bowling Green on Thursday. The guy obviously has the physical tools to be a very good QB. And we know that Heupel is a better QB developer than anyone that Pruitt had on staff. I think back to the way we were all convinced that Jon Crompton was a lost cause until Lane Kiffin turned him into an NFL Draft pick as a 5th year senior. So I'm hoping that Milton shows improvement against Pitt, and continues to improve from there.

If he doesn't, you're right about UT fans' lack of patience at this point, and I think that was witnessed by the vitriol after Thursday's game. Heupel may not have a choice but to move on fairly quickly if we fall to Pitt and then get shellacked by Florida and are off to a 2-2 start with subpar QB play.

[Black Diamond Vol]

Given that this season is going to be a total washout anyway, I'm willing to give Milton a fairly long leash. He comes here from a completely different system, and he didn't even go through spring practice. I'm sure he's still learning the offense. He obviously has the physical ability, let's see if he can harness it.

That said, the degree of difficulty is about to go way up. He won't be able to stand in the pocket like a statue against SEC defenses.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

At this point, I think we have to trust CJH to make the right decision. He has a good record with QBs. 

That said, I think we saw from Milton about what Michigan folks told us we would see.  He held the ball too long, wasn't as accurate as I'd like for him to have been, didn't seem to see the field very well and missed finding open receivers, and I thought he looked tentative when running the ball. We were moving the ball well on the ground against BG, but I thought the lack of a passing attack in the second half showed some lack of confidence from the staff (but maybe I'm just reading too much into it).
 
Milton has 3 years of eligibility, Hooker has 1, and Bailey just doesn't seem to at this point be an option for whatever reason.

[VinnieVOL]

I was wondering how many years Milton had to play, that’s good to know.

I do agree, that Milton needs some time to find the rhythm of the offense.

I do feel bad for HB, but it is what it is.

[Tnphil]

My concern is the QB that only had 4 weeks of practice with this team was named the starter.....Didn't look very good but yet played 98% of the game against a bad Bowling Green.

[murfvol]

Coaches think they can fix anything AND they rarely understand what transpired prior to their arrival. Milton is a college graduate who hit ~50% of his passes in high school and college.

You can't fix field vision or accuracy. In theory he's an answer for three years. In reality he's the fourth year of JG - slightly improved.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

My concern is the QB that only had 4 weeks of practice with this team was named the starter.....Didn't look very good but yet played 98% of the game against a bad Bowling Green.

Maybe there are some issues with getting used to the new people. Hopefully he learns a lot from film this week. As I've already said, if he can play I think CJH should be able to get it out of him.

[VinnieVOL]

Has JH ever had a QB who's turned out to be a dud?   Can't think of any.

[BanditVol]

We will find out a lot more about Milton this Saturday, for sure.  Not terribly optimistic that it will go well.  As to the question of yanking him, I think it's a matter of degree. If he throws two ints early against Pitt he should be benched. If he muddles through and at least keeps it close, we might have to wait till the Florida game.

I'm hoping that he does adjust to the system, comes out firing on all cylinders and we never look back.  That doesn't seem very likely at this point though.

[VOLMAN]

It was obvious to me that Milton doesn't see the field, and either a QB possesses that ability or not, I don't see how it can be taught and that's my biggest concern. Accuracy he can work on and perhaps he could even learn to put some air under his deep balls but he didn't see WIDE OPEN receivers and late he just kept standing there looking for a receiver and Evans was 10 yrds right in front of Milton jumping up and down and waving his hands and Milton still didn't see him! Oh and I neglected to mention how long he holds the ball....he's gonna get killed Saturday. Milton's inability to read the defense causes him to freeze in indecision and I fear if Hueple pressures him to get rid of the ball he's going to be an Int machine again, because he can't read the defense. As if that's not enough, HE'S SLOW but likes to run.            

[HerbTarlekVol]

The reality is that Milton is #1 and Hooker is #2.  For those somehow holding out hope that Bailey is going to be the "savior" at QB, it's just not going to happen. 

[PirateVOL]

The reality is that Milton is #1 and Hooker is #2.  For those somehow holding out hope that Bailey is going to be the "savior" at QB, it's just not going to happen. 

IT was clear in warmups what the pecking order was and even more so just before the game when only 2 QBs were warming up

A few other notes after watching the tape:
The receivers were a bit inconsistent in getting open
#1 wasn't 100%
There were a few times when the receivers and Milton weren't on the same page - that can be fixed
The above led to apparent misreads by Milton

The route structures we ran were nowhere near the capabilities of the offense design, e.g. we held back the offense, especially in the 2nd half
The 2 slot routes that we ran in the limited pregame team activities during warmups we ran once each in the game, neither connected
We really didn't go the RPO route, expect us to this week

As an aside, on the Tillman TD Cade literally threw his guy down like a rag doll

[volsboy]

Ole Miss offense looked pretty good against Louisville. If they they can play some defense, they will be a handful. Lot's of talent on offense. Even with Kiffiin out.

[SmokeyJoe]

The overwhelming sense I think most Vol fans came away from game 1 with was disappointment in the passing game.  Sure, a 30 pt win is a win.  But we’re all tired of poor qb play and have no patience for it at this point.

I’m holding out hope that JH is a better handler of qbs than his predecessor.  But, what’s the point which we gotta give another guy the ball, do you guys think?  Is it if Milton shows the same play vs Pitt?  Maybe give another guy the TN tech game as qb1 before Florida?  Or does Milton need more time to find the groove and get to the UF game no matter what?

It’s a fine line to me, between yanking a guy too soon and riding with him too long.  The JG experience really has us all on edge, I think.  What say y’all?

Everything has been covered here & elsewhere. I will only say I was not encouraged. Disappointed, in fact. It was Guarantano 2.0. If so, I look for a long year. Hope I am wrong.

[BanditVol]

IT was clear in warmups what the pecking order was and even more so just before the game when only 2 QBs were warming up

A few other notes after watching the tape:
The receivers were a bit inconsistent in getting open
#1 wasn't 100%
There were a few times when the receivers and Milton weren't on the same page - that can be fixed
The above led to apparent misreads by Milton

The route structures we ran were nowhere near the capabilities of the offense design, e.g. we held back the offense, especially in the 2nd half
The 2 slot routes that we ran in the limited pregame team activities during warmups we ran once each in the game, neither connected
We really didn't go the RPO route, expect us to this week

As an aside, on the Tillman TD Cade literally threw his guy down like a rag doll

It's very true that the WRs didn't have a great game either (though I give props to Hyatt, I think, who made a spectacular catch on that last TD...that was all WR, Milton gets almost no credit for that).

Hopefully they all get on the same page better this week. We will find out soon enough.