National outlet gives Nico Iamaleava bulletin board material in favor of two players who lost to the Tennessee Vols in 2024
The Tennessee Volunteers picked up wins over two of their long-time rivals in 2024 in the Florida Gators and Vanderbilt Commodores. Both saw QB Nico Iamaleava play significant roles in the wins. However, one outlet has a higher estimation of the Gator and Commodore signal callers heading towards 2025 than the Vols' entrenched starter. Max […]
The Tennessee Volunteers picked up wins over two of their long-time rivals in 2024 in the Florida Gators and Vanderbilt Commodores. Both saw QB Nico Iamaleava play significant roles in the wins.
However, one outlet has a higher estimation of the Gator and Commodore signal callers heading towards 2025 than the Vols' entrenched starter.
Max Chadwick of Pro Football Focus put out his list of top 10 returning quarterbacks for 2025, and both Florida's DJ Lagway (7th) and Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia (8th) were higher on the list than Iamaleava (9th).
Here's what Chadwick had to say about Nico:
Iamaleava opened his redshirt freshman campaign with five sub-70.0 PFF passing grades in his first six games. He got much better in the second half of the season, posting 75.0-plus marks in four of the final seven contests while leading the Volunteers to the College Football Playoff.
The former five-star recruit’s 81.7 PFF passing grade on the season was still a top-20 mark in college football. Iamaleava’s 2.5% turnover-worthy play rate ranked in the top 30 even though he placed sixth among Power Four quarterbacks in average depth of target (11.1 yards).
He has outstanding physical tools and could quickly rise on this list.
Was 2024 a great year for Nico? Not at times, but there were certainly reasons for that. The Vols had a generational runner on the team in 2024 in Dylan Sampson, who shattered the single-season school record for rushing and total touchdowns and finished in the top 5 in SEC history in rushing scores. Josh Heupel wanted to lean on him, and it worked.
Tennessee's wide receiver room – believed to be a strength going into the season – fell far short of expectations last year as well. As we saw against good defenses, UT's wideouts failed time and again to create separation and give Nico better looks down the field.
Still, Nico dug down and helped deliver wins over Florida and Alabama in 2024 with clutch plays in the second half. PFF grades and stats can't quantify that. Nico also helped deliver a win against Pavia and Vanderbilt while also clinching a College Football Playoff spot with an impressive showing – 18 of 26 for 257 yards and 4 touchdowns and an interception.
And despite big wins by both quarterbacks in 2024, both Lagway and Pavia had their struggles across the season. Lagway threw 9 interceptions, as many as Pavia and Nico threw combined in 2024. Perhaps excusable, given his inexperience, although Nico threw for 19 touchdowns to just 5 interceptions across his first season as a starter in 2024. Pavia also threw for 200+ yards against Power Four competition just once.
We'll see if Nico and the Vols can once again get the last laugh where it counts the most again in 2025 – on the scoreboard – as Tennessee will face off with the Gators and Commodores again next season.
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