Nico Iamaleava joined the Tennessee Volunteers in 2023 and was to inherit the starting quarterback spot from Joe Milton. He did that in the 2024 season after Milton departed to join the Patriots in the NFL. While initially, the hype was all positive for Nico, gradually questions did start to come out about his overall performance. And as Nico’s seasons progressed more analysts and experts started weighing on their expectations on the freshman QB. But, what went wrong for Nico? And how can he come out of this rut?

It is not a secret that Nico didn’t have his best season in 2024 not only did he look indecisive in crucial moments but also failed to make it count on several occasions throughout the season. For instance, his playoff game against Ohio State in which Vols got eliminated. He was short, and very clumsy in his ball distribution, no wonder he ended that game with a meager 45% pass completion rate and 4 sacks. But some would say he did score two TDs. Much of the better part of the performance came in the second half with Vols trailing by a mile. To some extent, Nico did put the team on his back.

Despite that, Ohio State utterly crushed the Volunteers by 42-17. Furthermore, after his season performance, his finishing with a 63.8% pass completion rate for 2,616 yards is subpar. But, it is unfair to blame him entirely because, for one he is a talent yet to hit his best, furthermore, the problems were attributed to the team overall which also didn’t help his stats. But, even then, there are some setbacks he could potentially face.

Jack Foster of Omaha Productions provided with the potential positives and negatives for Nico in the 2025 season, “I just think you look at Tennessee’s wide receiver core and I don’t know if the big play guys are there for Tennessee for Nico to make that type of jump. And there’s a lot of uncertainty in the wide receiver group for Tennessee. Ton of turnover which I think is a good thing, it’s very similar to what we saw from the Tennessee secondary a year ago where everybody left but it’s probably a good thing because the guys that you had weren’t you know necessarily living up to expectation and the wide receiver group wasn’t performing.” 

Well, Nico when joined the program was reported by Athletic to have signed an NIL deal worth almost $8 Million with the school. That included a $350,000 immediate payment and $2 Million paid annually for the player till his Junior year of college. Naturally, the program is looking at him to be their star. However, can you be a star if you don’t have effective weapons to throw to? So far, Josh Heupel has yet to add those weapons. Of course, there has been some movement in O-line positions, and the Vols signed a WR from the Crimson Tide. But is that it? Will that do?

College Football Addiction Youtube channel provided some insights about the need for Nico to perform expeditiously, “They could be a really good team right and maybe competing for another playoff spot, but for them to turn into a competitor he has to be the difference maker. You know Samson’s gone, they did lean on the defense a lot this year for them to go from a really good road playoff game to like really competing for this thing in a stacked SEC. And then you get out of the SEC in the playoff and you obviously have to run into the Ohio States and Oregons and Notre Dames too he would need to be really good so if he does bump up to that range.” 

Well, it’s not a secret that Nico has to perform, but overall he must be given some leeway to settle and glue in with the 2025 roster to perform at his peak.

Nico Iamaleava out of the list of top QBs?

As the season is over, much of the attention has shifted to the draft. However, for players looking to improve their stats next season, it has been narratives galore! When it comes to the SEC, the narratives are, as you know, endless. Nico has also become a victim of the same. A setback? Indeed it is! Nico isn’t even considered a top SEC player going into the 2025 season.

Top Comment by Foxdoc

There’s to much nico hype at UT they put to much pressure on a freshman quarter back especially one as...more

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Cousin Shane on ‘That SEC Football Podcast’ provided some words of caution for the Vols QB, “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? (top 25 players in the SEC next year) 16 teams, trying to find 25 players, I don’t know, I think Nico still has a little work to do there”. Notably, after his performance in the 2024 season some of the rankings have left him out of the list of their top QBs. But, Nico was recently placed at 10th place in overall QB rankings by On3, and that is certainly a positive sign. But Shane chose another player over Nico.

Shane added, ”It is tough to say that this kid’s (Arch Manning) 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 a firm believer at the end of the season in contention to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country”.

Well, Arch Manning is still inexperienced as compared to Nico, so it’s hard to say that is a fair comparison. But, still, it’s food for thought. Let’s see now some predictions as to how his season in 2025 going to be.