Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava has started one collegiate game in his career and he earned Citrus Bowl MVP honors in that start. 

While it's far too early to suggest whether or not Iamaleava will ultimately live up the hype that accompanied his recruitment, it's safe to say that his career at Tennessee is off to a good start. 

But that didn't stop MikeFarrellSports.com's Josh Kersh from labeling Iamaleava this week as one of the most overrated quarterbacks in the SEC. 

Kersh named who he believes are the four most overrated quarterbacks in the SEC and Iamaleava, somehow, was included on his list (as was Georgia's Carson Beck, who is projected as one of the top selections in next year's NFL Draft). 

From MikeFarrellSports.com: This one may be a little surprising to most, but since he became a national headline in 2021 as a high school recruit I was skeptical. The media blew this kid up during his junior year in HS, and the hype never stopped. In his junior year he threw for 2,244 yds, 33 TDs to 1 INT and stands in at 6’6” and 206 lbs. Looking in from the outside those stats and his size certainly stand out and would make anyone who’s anyone pay attention to him. But what has he done in the SEC as of now? He backed up Joe Milton his freshman season, but Iamaleava is still receiving royalty praises. He has 314 passing yards on 45 attempts in college. I will hold my praises for him until he has more meaningful snaps in more meaningful games. Stats against the Iowa's, Vanderbilt's, and UConn's of the world aren’t going to sway me. The media definitely needs to chill.

Just absolutely absurd reasoning, right? 

These few sentences, specifically, stand out as…bizarre. 

"In his junior year he threw for 2,244 yds, 33 TDs to 1 INT and stands in at 6’6” and 206 lbs. Looking in from the outside those stats and his size certainly stand out and would make anyone who’s anyone pay attention to him. But what has he done in the SEC as of now?"

Giving an example of some incredible stats while pointing out that Iamaleava has ideal quarterback height isn't exactly a compelling argument for calling the former five-star recruit "overrated". 

The crux of Kersh's argument seems to be that Iamaleava has only passed for 314 yards on 45 attempts. 

"He has 314 passing yards on 45 attempts in college. I will hold my praises for him until he has more meaningful snaps in more meaningful games."

There's no doubt that Nico has to prove he's worthy of the hype, but that's true of every former five-star recruit. And he hasn't had that chance yet. If anything, the take on Nico should be "incomplete" because he's only a redshirt freshman! He hasn't had the opportunity to show that he's overrated, underrated, or properly rated. 

Development is still a thing. Quarterbacks don't arrive from high school ready to take the NFL by storm. Even quarterbacks that are viewed as "polished" coming out of high school are still raw by collegiate standards. There's growth that has to happen for every quarterback that comes out of high school, whether they're an unrated walk-on or the No. 1 overall player in the nation. 

Nico still has a lot of developing to do. And a lot of that will happen this fall as he learns to navigate life as a starting quarterback in the toughest conference in college football. 

Until his college career is complete (or near complete at least), it's an exercise in futility to make any grand statements about Nico as a college quarterback. 

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