I know you’re excited about Nico Iamaleava. However, he’s not the only quarterback on Tennessee’s roster. Seriously, there are more.
In fact, there are two that could play a factor in this football season, which begins with the Vols hosting Chattanooga at 12:45 pm EST.
Let’s not even bring up a situation in which Iamaleava can’t play at some point this season. Let’s go ahead and declare that the phenom from California will be healthy and eligible all season. There, done with that. Now. let’s turn to the Vols other quarterbacks.
There’s a great chance that Iamaleava will be pulled from the Vols’ game against the Mocs at some point on Saturday. He may not even play in the second half if the game is in hand. That’s when things could get interesting.
Tennessee should be in good hands with fifth-year senior Gaston Moore in charge. If there ever is a short-term situation in which Iamaleava has to miss a play or a drive at some point this season, which could be the case considering how much he’ll be asked to run the ball.
“Gaston’s experience inside of our offense for a long time, at two stops, is something that we place the value on,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said, referring to Moore, who he brought with him from Central Florida when he was hired by the Vols following the 2020 season. “But his teammates can understand that too. He’s got great command of what we’re doing offensively. He’s played really well throughout the course of training camp.
“Since we got back in January, has continued to really develop physically, his movement skills and has played at a really high level through the course of spring ball and training camp. Everybody’s got a lot of comfort with him. He started to take more ownership, more of a voice within our program as well. So really excited about what he’s done and got a lot of trust with him.”
The Vols also have another highly touted quarterback on the roster. Freshman Jake Merklinger is listed as the Vols’ third-string quarterback despite being a four-star prospect when the Vols signed him. However, the Chattanooga game could offer a brief scouting report on him – if the game gets really out of hand. Still, Merklinger, at that point, would likely just be asked to hand the ball off.
There’s no question. Moore is who the Vols will go to if something goes awry this season or, certainly, in times in which games get out of hand, which seems to happen at Tennessee nowadays.
