I want Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava to be an elite quarterback. I really do. I’m just not sure that’s in the cards this season and, perhaps, ever.

I still think Iamaleava can be a very good quarterback and win games for the Vols, but I’ve come to the realization that he may never be as great as I once thought he would be. That would be unfortunate because I haven’t heard one player nor coach ever speak ill of him – on or off the record. He’s an incredible teammate, by all accounts, and is everything a coach would want in terms of work ethic and talent. Well, at least physical talent.

I’m not rooting for Iamaleava because he plays for a team that I’ve covered for 25 years. I’ve learned to be objective when it comes to things like that, especially given how Tennessee has been an easy target of criticism for about a decade before coach Josh Heupel took over the Vols’ football program before the 2021 season. 

I’m also rooting for Iamaleava because the hype around his recruitment wasn’t his fault. He was certainly overexposed during his recruitment. Yes, recruiting reporters and analysts tend to jump on the next big thing, especially when a pile of money was suddenly in play via NIL. Iamaleava’s recruitment was just too scintillating of a story not to cover – and, in many cases, over cover.

I certainly don’t blame Iamaleava for taking the vast amounts of NIL money he has received. Who wouldn’t? However, that money has raised expectations for Iamaleava that are unfair. There will be a poster boy for NIL gone wrong and, right now, Iamaleava is the leading candidate for that unenviable designation through no fault of his own.

The reason I wonder if Iamaleava may fall short of his intended target to be elite is because the redshirt freshman has played so poorly lately. It seems he’s regressed with more playing time, which is hard to explain. I could point out stats, such as the fact that he’s the eighth-best quarterback in passing efficiency of the 15 players in the SEC who have enough attempts to qualify. Nationally, Iamaleava comes in 39th in passing efficiency with his 149 rating.  

For context, former Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton was 35th in the nation last season with a 147 passer rating and Tennessee’s fan base liked him about as much as former Nick Saban, the longtime coach at Alabama, which the No. 11 Vols will play on Saturday when they host the No. 7 Crimson Tide in Neyland Stadium at 3:30 EST.

Iamaleava’s quarterback rating is probably a bit inflated since at least two of the teams he played this season were woefully undermanned. Stats don’t fully illustrate how bad Iamaleava has played at times. I once thought Iamaleava would be a great runner and he was early in the season. He has since looked like a baby giraffe. That’s not a knock on his physical ability. It’s concern about his decisiveness when he’s running the football. Against Florida, Iamaleava never looked comfortable unless he was handing the ball off and even that wasn’t perfect as evident by a botched handoff intended for running back Dylan Sampson.

We’ve all seen glimpses of the special arm that truly is elite no matter how Iamaleava plays. The Californian has a quick release, is accurate and has a stronger arm than he’s given credit for. However, we now must question if the owner of that arm can process the game quickly enough to be truly elite. I’m certainly not eliminating that possibility, but I now have doubts after Iamaleava’s recent outings that I never even dreamed would arise.

Former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, who was groomed like Iamaleava, was a bit indecisive early in his career. He probably held onto the ball too long to make a play downfield when he should have just run. However, he was still was an elite quarterback in his first year starting, setting the all-time Alabama record for passing yards (4,872) and touchdowns (47), in 2021. Like Iamaleava, Young had time to sit and learn behind a veteran quarterback, which he did in 2020. Then, shortly after hitting the field, it was apparent that Young was, indeed, a special player. 

Iamaleava is now midway through the season and has only looked elite against low-level competition. However, it’s the situation that Iamaleava has been thrown into that could undermine his college career or, at least, this season.

Iamaleava looks like he’s regressed in recent weeks. That’s not good. He seems to be indecisive and even skittish at times in the pocket, which is often full of defenders because of the Vols’ woes at offensive tackle. That’s certainly not Iamaleava’s fault. He wasn’t in charge of recruiting the offensive linemen that are so vital in his development. That’s on head coach Josh Heupel, who makes me wonder just how good Iamaleava was in the first place.

Heupel chose Milton over former Vol quarterback Hendon Hooker. That turned out to be one of the worst personnel decisions in Tennessee football history.

Heupel chose Iamaleava over countless other quarterbacks in his class. Sure, players choose schools not vice versa, but Heupel certainly had some say in the matter with a $2-million per year NIL contract in hand and a school that was willing to pick a fight with the NCAA that it knew it would win. 

Heupel zoned in on Iamaleava in recruiting just like he zoned in on Milton when he was on the Vols’ roster. Could Tennessee be in the midst of another poor example of talent evaluation? Here’s hoping that’s not the case for Iamaleava’s sake.

My greatest concern for Iamaleava is his confidence. He’ll still have his elite physical talents for years to come, but confidence can be fleeting and tough to get back. If this were the NFL, Iamaleava should sit for awhile like Young is doing for the Carolina Panthers. He could take time and learn. Well, we all know that’s not possible in college football. 

When players get benched in college football, they don’t usually get their job back and, nowadays, often just transfer for a better situation. Besides, Iamaleava was never expected to play beyond his junior season next year. If so, he would have been considered a bust. At least, that’s what everyone said at the time. Now, I wonder if Iamaleava could be at Tennessee for the long haul and a redshirt senior one day. 

I’m not advocating Iamaleava actually gets benched, but I think it’s imperative that Tennessee simplifies things for him, as I’m sure they’ve already done so to some extent. Besides, once Heupel chooses a quarterback, he likes to go down with the ship hand-in-hand with his chosen signal caller. Would we ever have known just how great Hooker was had it not been for Milton getting injured?

Tennessee has seen a quarterback rise from the ashes thanks to a simplified offense. Because of circumstances out of his control, former Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton struggled for most of his career after being one of the highest-rated quarterback prospects to ever sign with the Vols. 

Yet former Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin “fixed” Crompton in the second half of the 2009 season with an offense that played to Crompton’s strengths, which were throwing on the run via roll outs and making quick reads in the pocket. Unlike the Crompton situation, Tennessee seems stuck with few options when it comes to Iamaleava.

The Vols have tried to roll Iamaleava out, but that puts Tennessee’s offensive tackles in a bind because they have below average foot speed and tend to hold. Tennessee has tried wide receiver screens, but that’s about as exciting as the Wing-T offense. The Vols have tried throwing deep, but Iamaleava has just all out missed open receivers. 

As for throwing over the middle of the field, Iamaleava likes to throw it to the other team too much for Heupel to feel confident in that moving forward. In fact, that notion might be as dead as the Vols’ old tradition of having a Tennessee walking horse circle the field throughout the game.

I’m well aware that 12-personnel, or two tight ends, makes the Vols less explosive end brings another defender into the tackle box. However, that same look could help protect Iamaleava and play to the Vols’ strengths, which is running the ball right up the gut and relying on an elite defense. That takes Tennessee’s weakness at offensive tackle out of play. It’s much harder to get called for holding when you’re run blocking rather than roaming around the field like Frankenstein trying to stop SEC pass rushers intent on getting to Iamaleava.

That, however, would mean that Heupel would have to admit he was wrong about Iamaleava. In case you haven’t noticed, Heupel doesn’t like to admit he’s wrong about much, especially when it comes to quarterbacks. I just hope he wasn’t wrong about Iamaleava, who seems like too good of a person and has too much talent not to root for.