Tennessee Volunteers might have crushed the Florida Gators on Saturday, October 12. But that doesn’t assure anything. Rather, RJ Young is concerned about how Josh Heupel’s program is going to do in the coming days. That being said, the Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava is now more of an open book.

This goes without saying, that the rivals have cracked the Tennessee secret code. As the issue persists with Iamaleava, the Tennessee QB got a ‘scary’ tag from an insider. Well, it’s not something new as Nick Saban also had a soft corner for Iamaleava.    

Analyst dissects Tennessee’s star QB Nico Iamaleava

The Volunteers are coming off a fresh 23-17 win against Billy Napier’s program. Their next big day is on October 20, when Heupel’s program will be facing off Kalen DeBoer’s Tide. For this, Young thought it wise to do some homework for Tennessee on his podcast The Number One College Football Show. The analyst deconstructed the Volunteer’s gameplan in the light of their signal caller Iamaleava. While they had mostly played home games against Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Florida, Young highlighted, “Problem with that is defenses have figured out Tennessee football. Defenses have figured out Nico Iamaleava.”

As the Volunteers are going to turn to their full-on protective mode for their QB, it’s going to reduce Iamaleava’s capacity making him dependent on others. The analyst noted, “Defenses have figured out that they’re going to max protect more often than not and Nico is going to have to wait for somebody to get open or make it happen.” Young has been questioning the QB since a few days back College GameDay analyst, David Pollack pinpointed the QB’s weak points, “I think he’s got to learn to continue to do damage from the pocket.” But the insider is the same person who considers Iamaleava as a threat to the rivals. 

Will Saban’s advice help Tennessee’s rising star?

The young man has a QBR of 74.0 percent. Plus, Iamaleava has completed 65% of his passes for 1,217 yards along with seven touchdowns, and kept his interceptions as low as three. Isn’t this enough for Pollack to get wooed? The analyst claimed, “I think we’re going to see down the road; I think that’s what’s scary. I pubbed up Nico as much as anybody, and watching his Iowa game and watching his first game, I’m like this dude is sensational. He’s Heisman Trophy type good.”

No doubt in the fact that this growth has been indeed alarming after Iamaleava spent the first season being benched. Well, Nick Saban has the eyes for real talent, and the Tennessee QB could not move past his sight. Here came the GOAT with a piece of advice for the player, “Just do your job.”

The ex-Alabama HC suggested that Nico Iamaleava will not have to carry the burden on his shoulders and make all the plays. What he can do instead is “distribute the ball and make the right choices and decisions to get the ball to the right guys at the right time.” Will ex-Alabama HC’s suggestion applied against Alabama help Iamaleava and co. earn victory? Do share your thoughts.

Also if you would like to explore concepts like NIL and NFL, you can check on the latest episode of the Think Tank podcast.