First impressions of Joe Milton’s ‘cannon’ arm at Patriots minicamp

First impressions of Joe Milton’s ‘cannon’ arm at Patriots minicamp originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Joe Milton faces an uphill battle to see the field in New England with veteran Jacoby Brissett and No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye ahead of him on the Patriots’ quarterback depth chart.

But Milton does have one thing going for him: He can sling it.

The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Tennessee product boasted the strongest arm in a 2024 NFL Draft class full of strong arms, and Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran his first in-person look at Milton’s throwing abilities over the weekend at New England’s rookie minicamp.

Let’s just say Curran wasn’t disappointed.

“He’s got an absolute frigging cannon. It is indescribably strong,” Curran said of Milton’s arm Tuesday on Arbella Early Edition, as seen in the video above. “The arc of the ball — there is none. It just comes out so hot.”

Curran has seen plenty of big-armed QBs come through the Patriots‘ organization, but Milton, Curran says, is on a different level — even when compared to Maye, who might have the second-strongest arm in the class behind his fellow Patriots draft pick.

“Ryan Mallett had a weapon, but this is a different plane,” Curran said. “And Drake Maye has a very good arm. He has a plus arm. He probably has one of the best arms in the draft — and you can just see it coming off of Milton’s hand in a different way.

“Like, something as stupid as this: I would bet that the RPMs on his throw are off the frigging chart. It’s fun to watch.”

Mike Giardi of the Boston Sports Journal was in Foxboro over the weekend as well and singled out one Milton throw in particular.

“There was a play in practice where he rolled to his left,” Giardi recalled, “and he flipped his hips and he (threw) 40 yards like it was just a little flick — and it was on a line.”

Of course, there’s a reason why Milton fell to the sixth round. The 24-year-old often struggles with accuracy — NFL.com’s scouting report of Milton notes his “disturbing lack of placement and timing” on deep balls — and appears to lack touch, as well.

“That’s part of Joe’s problem,” Giardi added. “When people look at him, (they) say, ‘Everything is one speed, and he doesn’t layer throws.’ So there are parts of his game where he’s gonna have to learn, ‘No, this needs a little more arc; that needs a little less juice on it.’ But it’s worth taking a shot.”

Even if Milton is a work in progress, the Patriots clearly felt he had enough arm talent to justify a late-round flier. And considering they’ve made a complete reset at the game’s most important position, why not take a chance on Maye and see if he can develop under new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney?