There wasn’t a player Dallas Cowboys fans were more excited to watch against the Los Angeles Rams than Joe Milton.
Unfortunately, Milton never found a rhythm under center and he ended up being one of the worst players on the field for either team.
A lot of Milton’s biggest red flags reared their ugly head.
He went 0-for-3 on the Cowboys’ first offensive possession and all three passes were absolute fireballs with zero touch.
He telegraphed his third throw by staring down Jalen Tolbert and was lucky to avoid an interception.
Perhaps Milton had a case of first game jitters or he tried to do too much. Regardless, the Cowboys need a lot better from their expected backup.
You have to wonder if Dallas will keep third-stringer Will Grier on the 53-man roster out of sheer necessity.
Joe Milton’s nightmare debut may force the Cowboys to keep Will Grier
Cowboys fans hoped that Milton would show enough in preseason that the team wouldn’t have to reserve a spot on the roster for Grier.
While one game doesn’t mean Grier has jumped ahead of Milton – whom the Cowboys acquired from the Patriots for a fifth-round pick – Milton’s performance could still change how Brian Schottenheimer and company evaluate the position before the roster deadline.
It wouldn’t be the end of the world if Dallas kept three quarterbacks, as they did last year, but that could mean keeping one fewer wide receiver, defensive end, or safety, positions where they are extremely deep. That would be a real shame.
Maybe the Cowboys have intended to keep three quarterbacks the entire offseason. Howeevr, Grier could serve as the emergency third quarterback.
NFL rules state that an emergency QB “must be on the 53-man roster or as one of three standard elevations per week.”
Ask yourselves this Cowboys fans: if Dak Prescott suffered a multi-week injury, would you have any confidence in Milton running a competent offense?
While it would help to have CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens running routes, it didn’t matter who was at receiver on Saturday.
Milton overthrew a wide open Ryan Flournoy on multiple occasions. It seemed on first watch that Milton trusted his arm to make throws and threw late rather than on time because of it.
A half-second can be the difference between moving the chains and throwing a pick-six. NFL quarterbacks have to deliver the ball on time, and Milton is still learning how. Odds are, he won’t figure it out before the preseason ends.
