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Last year in the NCAA, the spotlight was on quarterback Shedeur Sanders, but now the attention has shifted to Nico Iamaleava, after he left the Tennessee Volunteers and moved to the UCLA Bruins due to a dispute over his NIL contract.
Iamaleava essentially left Tennessee's quarterback room empty and in disarray. He was expected to be the team's starter and had the potential to become one of the best quarterbacks in the NCAA-of course, behind Arch Manning, Drew Allar, and a few others.
For now, the Volunteers have secured UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar for the season-a move that has sparked mixed opinions. The 22-year-old senior is expected to be the team's starting quarterback and has already begun practices in the lead role at Tennessee.
Tennessee will face major problems without Iamaleava
The 2025 SEC spring meetings have begun, and one of the NCAA's top analysts, Paul Finebaum, shared his thoughts on the Volunteers' new quarterback-and they're not very encouraging for the university's fans.
The analyst believes that Aguilar, former UCLA quarterback and now at Tennessee, shouldn't be the leading candidate for the starting role. He argues Aguilar lacks accuracy, arm strength, and struggles with deep throws-issues that could jeopardize Tennessee's goals.
"It's not good," said Finebaum on ESPN during the 2025 SEC spring meetings. "This was the biggest story of the preseason, with Nico leaving. Joey Aguilar, from App State via UCLA, is not the perfect solution. He's good, but not great. Nico could have been great, even if he wasn't last year. Frankly, I don't like Tennessee's chances of making the Playoffs."
Finebaum had previously shared his opinion during the NIL contract saga that ultimately led Iamaleava to abandon the team and transfer to UCLA:
"I think there's reason to be concerned about Tennessee," Finebaum said back in April. "I know I'm probably not revealing anything new here, but what is the quarterback situation really going to look like? Listen, Aguilar is decent. They've got two backups with no experience, but I think that's a major drop in quality."
According to ESPN's Playoff Predictor, Tennessee has a 74% chance of making the playoffs, ranking among the top seven teams with the best odds. However, other projections place them at 13th, behind five of their SEC rivals: Alabama, Georgia, Texas, LSU, and Ole Miss.