Michigan Football: 5 Realistic predictions for Joe Milton in 2020

How many yards for Milton?

I won’t sit here and act like I have a special formula for predicting how many yards Milton will throw for this season, but there’s enough evidence to make a conservative estimate.

While the Wolverines pass offense hasn’t been all that prolific, Michigan did average 250 yards per game through the air a year ago and in four of Jim Harbaugh’s five seasons, they have averaged at least 212 yards per game. The five-year average yards per game is 217.

Last season, with Josh Gattis calling plays and Shea Patterson at quarterback, the Wolverines averaged 250 yards per game through the air. The other Michigan quarterbacks during that time were Jake Rudock, Wilton Speight, Brandon Peters and John O’Korn, among others.

None of those guys were drafted into the NFL, unless Peters is picked, which is possible. But still, that’s not a cast of star quarterbacks and if Milton averaged what they did collectively, that would put him around 1,900 yards or so.

But with Gattis’ wide-open offense that features a bunch of twitchy athletes such as Ronnie Bell, Giles Jackson, Mike Sainristil, A.J. Henning and even Roman Wilson, as well as Cornelius Johnson, Milton should eclipse 2,000 yards in nine games.