Michigan’s Pep Hamilton compares incoming freshman QB to former NFL MVP

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From now until September 1 of next season, any and all positive quarterback news will be welcomed with opened arms in Ann Arbor. September 1 is when Michigan will reignite their rivalry with Notre Dame in South Bend to open the 2018 “revenge tour” season, if you will.

Michigan’s passing game coordinator Pep Hamilton provided the latest hype by recently comparing incoming freshman quarterback Joe Milton to former NFL MVP and 3-time pro bowler , the late Steve “Air” McNair. This is high praise for the 4-star quarterback who is set to enroll early at Michigan next semester and jump right into the quarterback  competition.

Milton’s high school coach said Pep Hamilton was all over Joe Milton immediately.

“He got in contact with and me and said, ‘Coach, tell me about this kid, I love him,’” Hayes recalled. “He always talks about how he reminds him of Steve McNair. I thought that was pretty big. Coach Hamilton may have had the job one week and we’ve been in constant contact since he’s had the job.”

Pep Hamilton will play the important role of grooming this kid into his vision of Steve McNair. That will be no small task. McNair put up Heisman numbers in college, albeit at Alcorn State. However, on a side note, he definitely had the best Heisman hype video.

Joe Milton appears to have similar talents in his high school highlight tape, but who doesn’t these days? Everyone looks like the next Heisman in high school highlight reels, but the attributes are there for Milton to be molded into a star. Incredible arm strength and athleticism is what link the two together.

However, Milton will likely be seen as simply a pocket passer under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan.

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Milton has garnered the same title both Peters and McCaffrey have: “The Future.” Pep Hamilton is not the only one pumping into the Milton hype. Former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner found Milton on the field at the Ohio State game and had this to say.

Joe Milton has the build, arm, athleticism of a college quarterback but that does not guarantee anything. Milton has the potential to be a more polished Devin Gardner with a better, stronger arm. A strong arm is something that Milton has been praised for throughout his recruiting process.

McNair was under-recruited as a high school quarterback. He ended up at Alcorn State after turning down an offer from Florida because he refused to be a running back. McNair’s decision to go and be a quarterback worked out remarkably well, though.

Milton entered high school with no intentions of being a receiver but his high school coach had other plans. He entered high school as a receiver until his coach heard, ya heard, him throwing the ball.

Milton’s recruitment went a bit slow as well initially and only picked up when Michigan missed out on fellow 2018 quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to UCLA. However, it picked up quickly when Hamilton arrived at Michigan

Being compared to a former NFL Most Valuable Player like Steve McNair is a great bit of confidence for the incoming freshman, confidence that appeared to be withheld from Brandon Petersc who was seemingly forced into action by the fans as John O’Korn struggled as the backup.

The apparent reluctance to play Peters all season leads to a belief that the quarterback competition will be wide open again come spring time. Although Peters came in and played well his first three games, he did not do enough to guarantee himself the job. Still, the redshirt freshman likely has a bit of a head start heading into 2018 for Michigan.

Dylan McCaffrey will also be right in the middle of this competition as he came to Michigan with as much hype as any quarterback in recent memory. McCaffrey redshirted and ran the scout team offense all year and gained rave reviews from defensive coordinator Don Brown.

The most important job for Hamilton and Harbaugh this offseason is to find their quarterback and develop him. Personally, dragging the competition late into fall camp seems inefficient to me as it was quite obvious that the receivers and quarterback Wilton Speight lacked chemistry and timing early on in the season. This could be a direct byproduct of three different quarterbacks sharing first-team reps just before the season.

Believe me, as much as I want to sit here and sell to you how great Milton’s arm is and that he is an absolute gamer, I have to stop myself. I’m guilty of buying into how Peters and McCaffrey were the saviors of Michigan football too. There will be a lot of attention on the quarterback race this offseason. If Joe Milton truly has Steve McNair-like qualities, he will have ever bit of opportunity to earn the starting job.

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With Speight moving on, O’Korn having no more remaining years of eligibility, and another backup in Alex Malzone reportedly transferring as well after graduating next spring, the Michigan quarterback situation will be consist of entire young, inexperienced signal-callers.

Whoever the quarterback is their will likely be some growing pains as McCaffrey and Milton have zero college game action and Brandon Peters only started three games this season. Someone will have to step up and take control as this team needs a quarterback to complete their win-now mentality.