ESPN’s reason for where they have Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar ranked shows they haven’t watched the Vols play in 2025
ESPN’s main reason for ranking Tennessee Vols quarterback Joey Aguilar outside of the top 15 quarterbacks in college football is a bit….confusing. Aguilar, who leads the SEC in passing yards through the first month of the 2025 season, is ranked at No. 17 in ESPN’s rankings of every Power-4 quarterback. ESPN suggested that Aguilar’s game […]
ESPN’s main reason for ranking Tennessee Vols quarterback Joey Aguilar outside of the top 15 quarterbacks in college football is a bit….confusing.
Aguilar, who leads the SEC in passing yards through the first month of the 2025 season, is ranked at No. 17 in ESPN’s rankings of every Power-4 quarterback.
ESPN suggested that Aguilar’s game has “sprung some leaks of late”, pointing to his five interceptions in five games as a concern.
“After a nearly flawless start, Aguilar’s game has sprung some leaks of late — he has thrown five interceptions in his past three games and took a pair of sacks against Mississippi State,” wrote ESPN’s Bill Connelly. “Still, he has brought the explosiveness back to the Tennessee offense, averaging 14.3 yards per completion while taking only three sacks all season.”
Not all interceptions are created equal, and Joey Aguilar’s five interceptions aren’t all his fault
Connelly’s rankings appear to be based simply on stats and metrics (don’t even get my started on how nonsensical it is to rank athletes based solely on data, which can never tell the full story of a player).
I don’t know if Connelly has watched all of Aguilar’s throws this season or not. But the way he brought up Aguilar’s interceptions suggests he hasn’t. Because if he had, he’d understand that there’s an argument to be made that none of Aguilar’s five interceptions this season are his fault.
Three of Aguilar’s interceptions were passes that went off the hands of a receiver and ended up being a can of corn for the defense. Another interception happened when a receiver fell at the end of the route. The one interception that can attributed to Aguilar was a deep throw (which was under thrown a bit) that a Georgia defensive back made a good play on (the Georgia defender said after the game that he recognized the play because Tennessee ran the same play earlier in the game, so it was really just an instance where a defensive player made a great play…sometimes you just have to tip your cap).
Numbers can help paint a picture of what a player has accomplished, but they don’t give you the full picture. The only way to get that is by watching a player compete — from what he does on the field to how he handles himself on the sideline — and by understanding what he’s being asked to do by the coaching staff.
Just because a player looks good or bad on a spreadsheet doesn’t mean that’s the whole story.
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‘Just being honest from what I’ve seen’ – Former Vols defender reveals how good he thinks Tennessee is after win over Mississippi State
Former Tennessee Vols defensive lineman Marlon Walls is feeling pretty good about UT football in 2025 after watching his alma mater take down the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville this past weekend. Tennessee had to battle all game against the Bulldogs, but they eventually got the job done and left town with their fourth win […]
