Tennessee Vols take a tumble in updated 2025 college football preseason top 25 rankings
The Tennessee Vols took a tumble in the latest preseason top 25 college football rankings from On3's Andy Staples. Staples had the Vols ranked at No. 13 in January, but he dropped them to No. 21 in his post-spring top 25 rankings. From On3: I didn’t drop Tennessee from the teens (in the January ranking) […]
The Tennessee Vols took a tumble in the latest preseason top 25 college football rankings from On3's Andy Staples.
Staples had the Vols ranked at No. 13 in January, but he dropped them to No. 21 in his post-spring top 25 rankings.
From On3: I didn’t drop Tennessee from the teens (in the January ranking) just because QB Nico Iamaleava left. When I left Iamaleava out of my top 10 QB rankings — which made Tennessee fans quite mad at first and quite happy two days later — it was because of doubts in general about the offense. I’m not concerned about the defense. But the Volunteers will need some young playmakers on offense to step up and help whoever wins the QB job — whether it’s Appalachian State/UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar, redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger or true freshman George MacIntyre.
Tennessee certainly has plenty of questions to answer on the offensive side of the ball in 2025.
The Vols need to figure out this summer who their starting quarterback will be with Nico Iamaleava heading to UCLA. Tennessee is also bringing in an almost entirely new starting offensive line (Lance Heard is the only returning starting offensive lineman, and three of the Vols' projected five starters — Wendell Moe, Sam Pendleton, and David Sanders — weren't with the program in 2024).
Additionally, the Vols will trot out a talented, albeit inexperienced, fresh-faced group of wide receivers this fall (Chris Brazzell is the only returning starting wide receiver for UT).
There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the Vols' offense in 2025 considering the talent on the roster, but there are a lot of unknowns, too. That's why Staples' early 2025 ranking for Tennessee seems more than fair.
