Former Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava selected by AFC franchise in first round of early 2026 NFL mock draft
With the 2025 NFL Draft now in the rear view, CBS Sports released an early 2026 NFL mock draft on Monday. And they have former Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava being selected in the first round next spring. Iamaleava, a former five-star recruit who spent the first two seasons of his career at Tennessee, transferred […]
With the 2025 NFL Draft now in the rear view, CBS Sports released an early 2026 NFL mock draft on Monday.
And they have former Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava being selected in the first round next spring.
Iamaleava, a former five-star recruit who spent the first two seasons of his career at Tennessee, transferred to UCLA earlier this month.
CBS Sports has the Pittsburgh Steelers selecting Iamaleava with the No. 16 overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft.
From CBS Sports: As of writing this, Pittsburgh has not signed Aaron Rodgers. The quarterback room is Mason Rudolph, Skylar Thompson and Will Howard right now. A year ago, Iamaleava was almost a foregone conclusion to be a part of way-too-early mock drafts. The 2025 season did not go as anyone expected and Iamaleava has since transferred back to the West Coast. As with all of these quarterback prospects, Iamaleava has not played at a No. 16 overall level, but the pieces are there if he can put it all together.
Iamaleava certainly has plenty of room to improve before he should be considered a first-round pick, but the talent is obviously there. And it's important to remember that no one was predicting after Cam Ward's second season in college that he would be the No. 1 overall selection in the draft. College is an important developmental time for quarterbacks, and Iamaleava, who is still only 20 years old, is still very much in the developmental phase of his career.
Anyone discounting the possibility that Iamaleava could be a future first-round draft pick is running the risk of looking quite foolish in a couple of years.
