Hill, McGrone and Milton Show They Could Be Wolverine Game-Changers
9/29/2019 3:27:00 PM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Daxton Hill, Cameron McGrone and Joe Milton gave the first glimpses of just what they're capable of doing on the football field.
They have exceptional talent and the potential to be game-changers for the University of Michigan. They also inspire plenty of hyperbole from TV announcers.
McGrone replaced middle linebacker Josh Ross after Ross was injured at Wisconsin, and McGrone got his first start in Saturday's (Sept. 28) 52-0 win over Rutgers. Milton became the backup quarterback for this game with Dylan McCaffrey sitting out with a concussion, and Hill received his first significant playing time at safety.
Hill is a true freshman with elite speed, great instincts and packs a powerful wallop. He made things happen on defense, but made his best play on punt coverage.
Will Hart hit a low-trajectory punt that traveled only 41 yards that Avery Young decided to field after it hit the ground, bounced up and twisted downward. Hill lowered the boom the instant Young fielded it, squaring him up, wrapping him up and driving him backward a full three yards. It was a wonder Young held on to it, and the crowd roared approval. Hill motioned them with his hands to bring it even louder.
"DAXTON HILL! No Mercy!" proclaimed Big Ten Network play-by-play man Kevin Kugler.
Plays like that get everyone on a team fired up, and count for more than the yardage they denied an opponent.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said, "I'm not going out on a plank or limb -- that would be a better analogy -- at all, but he's going to be really good. He picks up stuff really fast and he's really good."
The punt return hit exhibited Hill's quick-study ability.
"That was a big thing from last week to this week," said Harbaugh. "Last week, he was a gunner pretty much in the same similar position and was hesitant, and all you really had to do was coach him on it, and that's what we did. No hesitation today, and you saw him make one of those big-time plays as a gunner."
Hill
Michigan radio analyst Dan Dierdorf noted, "I'm excited about seeing Daxton Hill out there."
Hill played at times with both starting safeties, Josh Metellus and Brad Hawkins, and Harbaugh was asked if Hill was going to play more as a nickel back in passing situations.
"You just keep coming along and building," said Harbaugh, "and he's growing as a football player very quickly, and he's so fast. That speed shows up. You see it with Dax Hill. You see it with Cam McGrone.
"He's (Hill) coming along ... and you can probably predict that he'll be getting more and more time."
Hill lined up on the left side of the defense on one play, and was there to support when the run went to the right side. He didn't get an assisted tackle, but the fact that he was so close to the ball carrier was amazing.
"He's probably one of the fastest human beings I've ever seen," said McGrone. "He just really flies around and has a nose for the ball. I'm excited for him that he had a really good game, and I look forward to seeing more."
Wolverine receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, a five-star recruit just like Hill, said, "He's a really good player -- somebody that I'm excited for his future."
Hill was fourth on the team with four tackles against Rutgers. He shared one behind the line of scrimmage for a three-yard loss with linebacker Devin Gil. His anticipation, vision and speed got him to corner, and the velocity of the hit made running back Aaron Young pay.
Hill (6-foot, 190 pounds) also could end up being an offensive threat. He caught a 25-yard fake punt pass from Michael Barrett against Army, and returned seven of 13 passes he caught at Tulsa's Booker T. Washington High for touchdowns, while also having a 55-yard scoring run.
He was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Oklahoma, and 247.com rated him the No. 1 safety in the country and the No. 7 overall prospect. Hill committed to Michigan, then switched to Alabama and finally decided upon the Wolverines.
Hill came in this year with some other highly-talented freshmen who got plenty of playing time in the blowout win over the Scarlet Knights.
"There were times when it felt like the freshman team was out there," said Harbaugh. "We took the receivers out at the end of the third quarter, and Mike Sainristil, Giles Jackson, Cornelius Johnson and (tight ends) Erick All and Luke Schoonmaker were all in there along with red-shirt freshman Joe Milton.
"It was the freshmen out there, and let's see what they can do with reps. They played well. Good to see them execute the plays that were called."
Milton
Milton came in for starter Shea Patterson to finish the third quarter, and gunned a seven-yard slant pass to Peoples-Jones.
"There are only a few guys who have big arms like that," said Big Ten analyst Matt Millen, a NFL Pro Bowl linebacker who also ran the Detroit Lions as president and CEO. "Terry Bradshaw had an arm like that. (Brett) Favre had an arm like that. Joe Namath had an arm like that.
"Those are special guys."
Millen played against them.
"Joe Milton's a special guy," agreed sophomore tailback Christian Turner. "He's a leader. He doesn't have a starting job right now. He knows that, and he can't go out there lackadaisical. He knows what he's doing and is a good guy to have out there with us."
His ability to put new meaning to the term "deep ball" has made Milton something of a practice legend.
"He can throw it deep just by flicking his wrist," said Turner. "Just with a flick of his wrist, he can throw it 80 yards, 90 yards."
Milton zipped in a pass to Schoonmaker, hitting him in stride, and allowing Schoonmaker the momentum to go 29 yards.
Two plays later, Milton finished off Michigan's scoring by throwing a frozen rope to the left corner of the end zone to Jackson for 23 yards. It was the first passing touchdown for both.
Kugler shouted: "The future of Michigan's offense perhaps -- Milton to Jackson!"
Milton scored his second collegiate rushing touchdown by executing a perfect play fake to tailback Hassan Haskins, tucking the ball away, and pivoting around left end untouched. Milton posed in the end zone, doing the Cam Newton's Superman celebration by pretending to rip open his shirt.
McGrone said, "I kept waiting for him to get his chance, and seeing him in the end zone warmed my heart a little bit. I'm pulling for that guy.
"The signature, man. I knew he was going to do it, too, in sync."
McGrone
Milton is from Pahokee, Florida, but went north to play for Olympia High in Orlando. He was a four-star recruit rated the No. 6 pro-style quarterback by ESPN.
He's also speedy enough to run Michigan's pro spread offense, and big enough to take on defenders. Milton (6-foot-5, 245 pounds) is bigger than McGrone (6-foot-1, 232 pounds).
McGrone, who played in one game as a true freshman in 2018, had a career-high six tackles at Wisconsin. He had just one tackle and one quarterback hurry against Rutgers, but he caught Harbaugh's attention with the presence he brought to the defense. McGrone was like a heat-seeking missile on that one hit.
"Cam McGrone," began Harbaugh, "I mean, if he keeps playing like this, he's going to be a star. The way he runs, his physicality, every week is going higher and higher."
When his coach's "star" comment was relayed, McGrone smiled and said, "It really means a lot, and I feel like I can keep playing like this. I feel real comfortable out there. I'm not worried about anything from here on out. I'm going to play my game and help my teammates out and get the 'W.'
"They know that I'm capable of that, and they're in my ear saying, 'Play football. Do what you do.'"
McGrone was rated a five-star recruit at Indianapolis Lawrence Central by 247Sports, which tabbed him the nation's top outside linebacker prospect and the No. 24 overall recruit.
Hill, McGrone and Milton each came with plenty of high school accolades, and have been as good as advertised. Their first reviews have been impressive, and their futures quite bright.
