Former Alabama QB makes definitive statement about Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava
Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy didn't take a very cautious approach this week while discussing Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Instead, McElroy, now an analyst for ESPN, was definitive in his take on Nico — McElroy said it feels like Iamaleava is "the answer" for Tennessee. "Nico Iamaleava feels like he's the answer," said McElroy […]
Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy didn't take a very cautious approach this week while discussing Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
Instead, McElroy, now an analyst for ESPN, was definitive in his take on Nico — McElroy said it feels like Iamaleava is "the answer" for Tennessee.
"Nico Iamaleava feels like he's the answer," said McElroy on Always College Football. "He feels like he's the answer. Tennessee could have the breakout star in college football this upcoming year."
"But what we've learned with Tennessee is that they're going to go as their quarterback goes," continued McElroy. "If their quarterback plays at a crazy high level, they're going to be really tough to beat. If their quarterback misses a lot of open targets, misses a lot of layups, their ceiling drops down considerably."
"Now, when we take into account Nico's lone college start, they destroyed Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, but Iamaleava finished the game with only 151 passing yards. [He] did a throw a touchdown [and] ran for three more. But if you look at the numbers, and when you dive into that performance, the numbers don't jump out. But a couple of things that did is the athleticism — for a guy that's that long, he can move laterally. For a guy that's long, he's pretty decisive and has some good agility, too. And while he didn't throw it a ton in that game, just 19 pass attempts, it looks like he's very comfortable throwing on the move. Now there were a few times he probably left the pocket a little early…maybe hanging in the pocket a little more will be a heavy focus this spring. But you can tell the ceiling is there just in the one game of legitimate work against what I think was a high quality defense in the Iowa Hawkeyes."
The 2024 season, with Iamaleava starting at quarterback, will be the first time Tennessee fans will see how Josh Heupel's offense operates with a quarterback that he recruited out of high school.
Tennessee nearly reached the College Football Playoff in Heupel's second season. That was just a taste of where the program is heading under Heupel's guidance. With Heupel entering year four, Vols fans are finally going to see the beginning of Heupel's longterm vision for the program come to fruition. And that has to be exciting for Tennessee fans after years of wandering in the wilderness.
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