Tennessee had a far-from-perfect season in 2024. They are rebuilding things this off-season. Hope? To have an electrifying 2025. After all, the Vols do not know how to give up. The gut-wrenching loss to the Buckeyes put a difficult end to what looked like a promising year. The defense held up majorly, but for Josh Heupel, one major positive was his quarterback. Nico Iamaleava took over when it mattered. Even when he was injured. Naturally, going into the 2025 season, there are hopes, and more than that, there are expectations.

However, even before he could take the field to live up to those expectations, there are rankings- in his case, there are QB rankings for the players lining up at his position in the SEC. Where does he stand? Well, let’s have a look.

Nico Iamaleava receives a stern warning ahead of a hyped-up 2025

Nico Iamaleava showed a flash of quality and talent. However, that talent failed to deliver at the highest stage. What does it mean? Well, Heupel has a raw product to work with. However, despite multiple loopholes, you can’t blame him for whatever went wrong. It’s a collective catastrophe rather. He has done his best in a one-dimensional offense and racked up a decent 19 touchdowns (five interceptions) at a 64 percent completion rate. He could be a game-changer in a blink if he could get some additional help in the O-line. But the path to the same in the next season won’t be a bed of roses.

Addressing the 2025 prediction for the standout Tennessee QB, Cousin Shane said on ‘That SEC Football Podcast’ kept Arch Manning over him. ”It is tough to say that this kid’s going to be great because it’s not like he played against Ohio State or Georgia of these teams but yes there is a lot of momentum behind Arch Manning and he will be and I’m I’m a firm believer at the end of the season in contention to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country,” Shane validated his stance on the Texas QB. On the other hand, coming to Nico Iamaleava, he is largely skeptical.

”I don’t know if I would put Arch or Nico in here, (top 25 players in the SEC next year) but I love Tennessee you know but maybe that’s part of I am frustrated and I had higher expectations. I am not saying I felt hidden hooker 2.0 coming, but I thought we would see signs, flashes of it and there were some moments I am not going to take away from. What he did in Ohio State was tough, as tough as hell in those football games and he did make moments but is he top 25? 16 teams, trying to find 25 players, I don’t know, I think Nico still has a little work to do there.” SEC Mike chimed in, ”So, we are kicking him out, this was the cut line for me.”

Iamaleava had a very poor sack-to-pressure ratio and usually surrendered when he faced tough defenses. In the Georgia game, he recorded a 60 percent completion rate and five sacks. Another glaring issue in his resume is bad decision-making. But above anything and everything, analysts keep on focusing on the overall expansion of the Vols’ offense to use a quality quarterback like Iamaleava.

Nico Iamaleava’s future depends on how the Vols use the portal 

The transfer portal swaps are on so hopefully Josh Heupel is doing enough to safeguard his go-to QB for 2025. The hype around Iamaleava’s recruitment wasn’t a fault, He can still turn the tide and make everything right at Tennessee as he has time left on his card. All he needs is a bit of attention to the loopholes and enough support from his fellow offensive hands.

In a previous episode of the SEC football podcast, Mike blamed it on the system and noted, ”But it’s more about retouched offensive line, retoured receiving core, lost your standout running back. So, that’s just a lot to throw at a quarterback that is still developing.” He took more than he could chew and hence failed to capitalize on it at the end.

Nico Iamaleava logically needs a new ‘choirmaster’ running back as Dylan Sampson is ready to leave the building to take it to the pro. It’s certainly hard to find a replacement for Sampson but Iamaleava badly needs to maximize his potential in one way or the other. We will see how the Volts choose to handle the ultra-sensitive Nico Iamaleava matter heading into a promising off-season.