ESPN makes terrible suggestion for Vols QB Nico Iamaleava
ESPN made a less-than-ideal suggestion this week for Tennessee Vols true freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The national sports media outlet took a look at some of the top freshman quarterbacks in college football for the 2023 season and their specific situations. Iamaleava, the No. 1 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class (per On3), was […]
ESPN made a less-than-ideal suggestion this week for Tennessee Vols true freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
The national sports media outlet took a look at some of the top freshman quarterbacks in college football for the 2023 season and their specific situations.
Iamaleava, the No. 1 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class (per On3), was among the quarterbacks ESPN took a look at this week.
ESPN suggested that Iamaleava's chances of seeing the field are "high", though their reasoning is deeply flawed. They think Joe Milton, Tennessee's expected starter in 2023, is "way too erratic".
"Milton may be coming off an Orange Bowl win over Clemson in which he threw three touchdown passes, but he's way too erratic and inconsistent considering how talented he is physically," wrote ESPN's Tom Luginbill.
I'm guessing Luginbill didn't actually watch any of Milton's snaps in 2022. He probably didn't look at his stats, either.
If he had watched Milton and looked into his performance in 2022, he would've discovered that Milton looked much more comfortable playing quarterback last season — especially in his starts against Vanderbilt and Clemson.
Milton completed 65 percent of his passes last season while throwing 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions (Milton hasn't thrown an interception in his last 175 pass attempts, dating back to his time at Michigan in 2020).
Maybe if Milton's name was Will Levis (who, by the way, threw an interception every 28 attempts last season), he wouldn't have to deal with asinine statements like the one from Luginbill.
As for Iamaleava, Luginbill suggested that "it wouldn't be surprising if the Vols preserve his redshirt season".
Again, I'm guessing Luginbill didn't watch Tennessee last season. The Vols get plenty of "garbage time reps" for their quarterbacks. Vols fans even saw walk-ons taking snaps at various points last season.
And those reps will be important. Iamaleava will almost certainly be the starter in 2024 — he needs as many of those late-game reps as he can get in 2023. And the redshirt aspect shouldn't impact those decisions at all. If Iamaleava is as advertised, there's zero chance he'll be at Tennessee when he's a redshirt senior. If everything goes to plan, he'll be in his second year in the NFL by then (remember, Tennessee is just part of Iamaleava's football journey — his ultimate goal is still to reach the NFL…as is the case for every elite quarterback).
ESPN couldn't have it more wrong when it comes to the Vols' quarterback situation. Of course, that probably won't come as surprise to Tennessee fans.
