Tennessee Vols mounted a historic season, reaching the playoff bracket for the first time. But it doubles their hunger to make it to the Natty or at least a championship appearance next season. Josh Heupel is aware of the huge mass expectation hinging on him, but he’s keeping his faith in Nico Iamaleava in a more untamed form for another breakout year at Knoxville. But can we realistically slide into the idea that Iamaleava can carry a load of a turnaround after catching some rookie mistakes in a mixed-bag season? Lowkey, we can, as Iamaleava was the lone bright spot amidst a troubled Vols offense last year. So, what did go wrong under his radar?

Nico led the team to a highly competitive road win against Oklahoma and beat Alabama and Florida as a starter. The Citrus Bowl MVP turned heads in 2023. But he showed his true mojo in 2024 with 2616 yards and 19 touchdowns. Is he perfect? No. Nico looked highly vulnerable to sacking several times. Especially in that Ohio State game in which he was sacked 4 times. Does he have the room to develop and fill in the gaps? Big yes. Can he do that under the center for the second consecutive year? A bigger yes.

Because it’s not his fault, Tennessee didn’t have a capable WR room to safeguard Iamaleava. Getting to the root of the issue, insider Eric Cain noted, ‘We think, you know, Nico is capable of now, you know, last year. Nico, certainly needs to get better, more consistent in some areas. Boy, it was not all his fault; those wide receivers last year were not good, simply not good, and it’s up to the quarterback to make them better; I get that’s true, but he didn’t have a lot of help at points in time in that regard.”

Head coach Josh Heupel’s high-octane offense has been heavily reliant on skilled wide receivers, but at the end of the season, we saw a tragic mass exodus of the receiving room. Names like Squirrel White, Kaleb Webb, Chas Nimrod, Nathan Leacock, and Nate Spillman left the building for good.

Well, from an oddly satisfying perspective, it leaves room for some fresh talents to take over, piping some hope into Nico’s support system. The boy is already a Heisman contender, after all. The Vols sensation sits behind Garrett Nussmeier and Arch Manning. So, a brush-up on his end seems guaranteed. ”I think the biggest thing this offseason is that Nico has got to take that step, and I think that he will because, God, he’s got, I mean, you talk about just pure intangibles and traits. I mean, he’s, you know, top two, top three in the country of quarterbacks that I want,” added Cain.

But the question it begs is: does the reshuffled offensive depth chart help Nico, or is it just a far-fetched fascination?

Josh Heupel needs to be careful about a couple of menacing situations on the roster

The Tennessee O-line will look much different this year with the departure of cornerstones like Andrej Karick, Cooper Mayes, and others. Analyst Cain also suggested the receiver department looks quite naive going into the 2025 season. “Number two on my list is, who the heck is going to be in that (receiver) group? Who the heck is going to lead the charge? Okay, it’s got to be Mike Matthews. Matthews floored with the transfer portal a little bit; he’s back; he’s got to take a step; he’s got all the potential in the world. Does the five-star Chris Brazzell have to have a year or two like Donte Thornton had?  Amari Jefferson, are you on a pitch count? What’s your availability? How much can you do?”

They have some hope in Amari Jefferson and Chris Brazzell, who had a standout season, capping off with 333 receiving yards for 29 receptions. But they will still level up to protect Nico Iamaleava, just like coach Heupel wants. On the top, he has one more threat lurking behind.

Cornerback Rickey Gibson III changed his mind after hitting the portal and now wants to come back. Well, not any good news for Heupel. If he were allowed a retreat, it would set a bad example among the other players, who can just misuse the opportunity, creating a big mess in the roster. So, Heupel needs to be tricky here. Rest, we will see how the Vols seamlessly slide into a new season following the ongoing spring practices.