Why Joey Aguilar will outperform Nico Iamaleava’s 2024 season
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Joey Aguilar, like former Vol Nico Iamaleava, will play just one season on Rocky Top.
The former Diablo Valley College, Appalachian State and UCLA (kinda?) gunslinger comes to Knoxville with an entirely different vibe, though. One is a former 5-star prospect who was praised as the Vols’ savior before he set foot on campus. The other was a 3-star prospect who started in the JUCO ranks and had to work his way to the Sun Belt conference.
One is known for his impressive athletic ability and pro-upside, while the other has an attribute that I’m not sure every Vol fan out there has realized quite yet.
Joey Aguilar has moxie. This guy isn’t afraid of anything.
Now, make no mistake: there will likely be some growing pains. In fact, as I’ll explain later on, this strength could also be his main weakness for Tennessee. Still, I’m confident he’s on track to have a better year under center — as a leader and a passer — than the former 5-star did during his year in East Tennessee.
Defining expectations for Joey Aguilar at Tennessee
Iamaleava, though tough as nails, had an average-to-below-average season in 2024.
It’s easier to say it now that he’s back home in southern California, but it’s hard not to come to this conclusion looking at the results. He posted 2,600 passing yards on the season — nearly 1,000 of which came against non-conference cupcakes and woeful NC State — and just 2 SEC contests with 2 or more touchdowns thrown … against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. Not exactly world-beating stuff, folks.
As I wrote here in April, what initially stung about Iamaleava’s departure did not stem from his play in his freshman season. It stemmed from bad timing and, primarily, lost potential. When Aguilar announced his commitment to Tennessee, that’s the lens some fans (including myself) used to gauge expectations and discuss his fit. Something along the lines of, “will Joey Aguilar be able to match or outperform what Nico Iamaleava would have done at Tennessee this season?”
That’s not the right way to think about it, though. What’s done is done, and Tennessee is focusing on what it has. The question for Joey Aguilar heading into 2025 should be this: Can he outperform 2024 Nico Iamaleava’s production and make Tennessee’s offense better?
On the surface, Aguilar is in a better situation at Tennessee than he would have been at UCLA. Aguilar is walking into his 5th year in college football with the best offensive line he’s ever had, the best coaching he’s ever had, the best group of receivers he’s ever had and the most QB-friendly offense he’s ever commanded. Knoxville might just be the perfect place to put his style to work.
This year, Tennessee is expected to have another stout defensive unit under Tim Banks. Running back DeSean Bishop was impressive as the Vols’ No. 2 rusher behind Dylan Sampson. Given the consistent success of Heupel’s run game at Tennessee (over 2,500 rushing yards each season from 2021-2024) and some solid additions along the interior offensive line, there’s no reason to believe Bishop and rising sophomore Peyton Lewis can’t continue that trend if injuries don’t get in the way. That both takes pressure off Aguilar and provides him the same safety net that Iamaleava had when the Vols made the College Football Playoff.
The bar isn’t exactly high here, folks.
Here’s why Joey Aguilar will benefit from Tennessee’s system
Tennessee’s glaring issue last season was rooted in a truly terrible passing attack that struggled mightily at producing big plays. How many times did Heupel say Tennessee’s offense was “right there” last year, Volunteer fans? Once or twice a week? It certainly seemed like it.
Fellow Heupel QBs Joe Milton and Iamaleava both struggled to connect on the all-important deep ball, though it’s fair to point out that Iamaleava didn’t get much help from his receivers. Neither held a candle to Hendon Hooker, who made opposing defenses pay for missing an assignment or simply being inferior to Jalin Hyatt or Cedric Tillman.
Aguilar is the very definition of a gunslinger, which means he’s definitely going to take the shot if he has it and will probably do it anyway if he’s running out of options. As fellow Saturday Down South writer Spenser Davis pointed out in April, Aguilar led the Sun Belt in “big-time throws” (per PFF) with 26, which was 6 more than 2nd place.
Aguilar has strong deep ball placement with an impressive arm to boot. He made some genuine “wow” throws last season, including but not limited to below. 3 rushers in his face. Off platform. Dime.
But it’ll be tougher against SEC defenses, right?
With that, it’s time to address the elephant in the room. Aguilar threw 24 interceptions across the past 2 seasons with the Mountaineers, and he’ll probably make some regrettable decisions this year, too. Sometimes, Aguilar was forced to do a little too much last season, but he also just made some plain bad decisions. While I’m a firm believer that he will be able to move Tennessee’s offense down the field, I’m also a firm believer that he won’t be Tennessee’s QB1 for very long if he consistently makes poor decisions.
But I’m not particularly worried about that. This is where Josh Heupel and Tennessee’s system comes in.
No Tennessee quarterback under Heupel has consistently turned the ball over through the air. Hooker threw 5 interceptions across 2 seasons as the starter at Tennessee after throwing 5 in one season at Virginia Tech on half as many attempts. Milton threw 7 interceptions across 152 attempts at Michigan, then transferred to Tennessee and threw 5 interceptions across 497 attempts.
Aguilar won’t be forced to make as many tough throws as he did at App State, where he led an offense that was often working from behind thanks to a struggling defense. More options with a spread field and better protection should help Aguilar limit interceptions and return his completion percentage closer to 2023 form (63.7%).
So, what does that leave? Even in a down year, Aguilar threw for 3,000 yards. During his strong season he threw for 3,700 yards with 33 touchdowns – which won him the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year Award. With that much upside and experience, Tennessee should take the training wheels off immediately.
You can’t drive a rally car like a Prius and expect to win the race.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
