"He can be a monster" - CFB analyst claims Nico Iamaleava's exit wouldn't hurt Tennessee with Joey Aguilar under center
Nico Iamaleava's departure from Tennessee was one of the weirdest episodes of this spring. The quarterback stalled for a renegotiation of his NIL deal, only to leave the school for a much more expensive market and take a pay cut to join the UCLA Bruins. He was unable to attract the interest of a program of similar standing to the Volunteers.
While some Vols fans might be worried that they lost their most important weapon for the upcoming season, college football analyst RJ Young seems confident that they might have found their secret weapon in Joey Aguilar. Speaking on Tuesday, Young said the following about Aguilar:
"Now, Joey Aguilar, I don't think that dude is a step back, Young said about Nico Iamaleava's replacement (4:00). "I actually think that it might be a one-for-one. It might be even a step up, depending on how you feel about Nico if you're a Tennessee fan.
"But I've been looking at this and I say it straight up. That dude passed for 3000 yards back-to-back seasons. If he has a 2025 like he had 2023, he can be a monster. We are talking 3700, 3800 yards passing"
Aguilar comes from being the starter for the Appalachian State Mountaineers for two seasons. While he led them to a winning 8-5 season in 2023, their 2024 record of 5-6 was much more modest. Previously, he had played at Diablo Valley for two seasons.
In 2023, he was a Second Team All-Sun Belt selection and was named the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year.
Tennessee jumps up in Power Index following Nico Iamaleava's departure
In ESPN's latest Football Power Index, the Tennessee Volunteers shot up to the No. 10 spot in terms of odds of winning the national championship. While some people might be surprised to see a Iamaleava-less Tennessee team move up in the rankings, ESPN's Greg McElroy gave a potential explanation for the change this Wednesday:
"They might have actually just accounted for the fact that Nico wasn't good," Said the former Alabama quarterback on 'McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning'
The signal-caller's decision to leave Knoxville remains one of the most mistifying of recent times.