Michigan Football: Urban Meyer, Joel Klatt have high praise for Joe Milton

Following Michigan football’s season-opening win at Minnesota, a pair of analysts from FOX Sports are singing the praises of Joe Milton.

Joe Milton is the quarterback Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh has been looking for since arriving in Ann Arbor, back in December of 2014.

Furthermore, Milton is the dual-threat quarterback that Michigan fans have been salivating to have for over a decade, ever since star-prospect Terrelle Pryor snubbed the maize and blue for the confines of Columbus, Ohio, during the 2008 winter recruiting cycle.

FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt recently appeared on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Wednesday, offering plenty of praise for Milton and saying the quarterback “has a quick release and one of the strongest arms I’ve seen in college football in the last four or five years. It’s stronger than [former Wyoming quarterback] Josh Allen’s or even [former Oregon quarterback] Justin Herbert’s.”

To be mentioned in the same breath as either NFL passer should be considered an honor. Continuing to get praise of that sort will surely have pro scouts buzzing and drooling come combine time this winter. Anyone who’s seen either Allen or Herbert throw knows that the pair have cannons for throwing-arms.

However, Milton’s game more closely resembles one of NFL quarterback Cam Newton’s. But instead of heavily-relying on his size and how it translates to a power-run game, the former four-star quarterback recruit is more refined as a passer than Newton was during his Heisman Trophy-winning days at Auburn.

Urban Meyer breaks down Joe Milton, Michigan’s offense

In a video posted to the Big Ten Network’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, Meyer offered his analysis of Milton and Michigan’s debut victory over Minnesota. The segment, dubbed Urban Analysis recently appeared on the network’s B1G Show.

Along with Big Ten Network studio analyst and former college coach Gary DiNardo, Meyer engaged in a film session explaining the differences between Relief and RPO spread offense concepts, and the manner in which they were executed by Milton.

The former Buckeyes coach mentioned the way Milton ran the two plays was “really impressive” before going on to praise Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis for his installment of the spread offense as a member of Harbaugh’s staff, as well as his ability to game plan and call plays.

Meyer credited Gattis for recognizing what his quarterback does well, and even complimented Milton by saying, “he’s a big pretty. Now this guy is a big old freak hook and a quarterback. He can run. He can throw. Obviously, looks like you make great decisions. The ball comes out pretty easily”.

Klatt and Meyer praised Milton on Breaking The Huddle

Both Meyer and Klatt have spoken volumes about Milton at this point. Honestly, who wouldn’t? He’s the most talented quarterback to step on the football field for Michigan since Denard “Shoelace” Robinson. Both analysts mentioned the quarterback as a main cog, or reason that Michigan will surprise people this season.

Meyer couldn’t help but gush over Milton after reviewing the quarterback’s performance against Minnesota. “You have a quarterback now. My gosh, it’s so early and I don’t want to fall in the trap. Everybody starts anointing people as your savior. But I remember watching him two years ago and thinking, ‘My gosh look at this talent’.”

Being a former coach, It’s possible that Meyer got to see Milton up close and personal during the coach’s time with the Buckeyes. At the very least he’s definitely watched some film and seen the Florida-native from the sidelines. However, it was Klatt that seemed to be even more star-struck.

“Joe Milton is the x-factor at quarterback,” said Klatt during the discussion with Meyer. “He is really good. He’s got a huge arm. As good of an arm I’ve seen in college football in quite some time.”