Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava has garnered quite a bit of buzz across the offseason. The Vols’ rising second-year quarterback was named ESPN’s No. 1 projected breakout player over the summer and heads into the 2024 season with Top 5 Heisman Trophy odds.
Iamaleava spent his freshman season in a backup position behind Joe Milton but did turn heads during his lone start against Iowa in the Citrus Bowl to cap off the season. The former five-star prospect showed that he had the tools to take over Josh Heupel’s offense and has been rocketing up offseason charts and lists ever since.
CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli was a guest on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take episode on Friday and made a strong claim regarding the Vols’ QB heading into the season.
“I think Nico is the best quarterback in the country,” Fornelli said on the show.
The most noticeable difference between Iamaleava and the rest of the nation’s top quarterbacks is simply experience. Here’s a look at how many games each one of FanDuel’s Top 5 Heisman quarterbacks has played in: Dillon Gabriel (50), Carson Beck (25), Quinn Ewers (22), Will Howard (34), and Nico Iamaleava (5). The Vols’ quarterback is by far the most inexperienced of the contenders but makes up for it with emerging talent on the field and a ready-to-fire offense orchestrated by Josh Heupel.
Fornelli doesn’t need to see double-digit game tapes to spot elite quarterback talent, though.
“Three years ago I was telling you Caleb Williams was the best quarterback in the country and he wasn’t even the starter at Oklahoma,” Fornelli continued on to say. “I’m telling you Nico is the best quarterback in the country. Size-wise, talent-wise, ability-wise, fit in the offense that he’s in, which is an offense that somehow made Joe Milton into an NFL quarterback.
“Nico can throw to all parts of the field, Nico is mobile, I just think that him in that offense with what they have, that is going to be a really tough team to beat.”
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Barstool’s Brandon Walker added to Tennessee conversation saying, “And they’re really good around him. The front seven is fantastic. Secondary needs a little – it’s going to be some smoke and mirrors with the secondary.”
Fornelli went on to say that if he’s claiming Iamaleava is the best quarterback in the country and many people say James Pearce Jr. is the best defensive player in the country, you’re typically going to have a pretty good recipe for success. Fornelli and Walker both claimed the Oklahoma game as Tennessee’s big moment and both picked Tennessee to beat Alabama in Knoxville this October.
No. 15 Tennessee and quarterback Nico Iamaleava will host Chattanooga in the season-opener on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET in Neyland Stadium.
Check out the full Tennessee conversation with Tom Fornelli on Friday’s episode of Barstool’s Pardon My Take here.
Three years ago @TomFornelli said Caleb Williams was the best QB in the country when he was the backup at Oklahoma.
This year Tom thinks Nico Iamaleava is the best QB in the country 👀
Presented by @rhoback #ad pic.twitter.com/SLyKROrk0a
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) August 30, 2024
