Prediction article on Joey for this season

#1
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OrangeBeachVol

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#1
The writer without saying obviously believes he wins the starting job and discusses his plus and minuses. It's a preseason read for thought and discussion.
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www.saturdaydownsouth.com

Why Joey Aguilar will outperform Nico Iamaleava's 2024 season

Joey Aguilar will captain Tennessee's offense in 2025. How will he compare to former quarterback Nico Iamaleava, and why can he be better?
www.saturdaydownsouth.com
 
#3
#3
rdk4121 said:
I think the article makes a great point that I've thought about for awhile. This isn't about it Aguilar can be better than what Nico would have been this year. It's really about if he can be better than what Nico did last year. If that's the question, I think the answer is easily yes.
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I think you are right but also that he may be better than Nico would have been. I was kind of disappointed that Nico wasn't further along than he was. They invested a year with him behind Milton but even by the end of last year he seemed to still struggle with line calls and coverage reads. Maybe expectations were too high. Maybe he would have grown into it with an off season. His physical talent is unquestionable and better than Aguilar's.

But we've seen all of that before. You recruit guys on their talent but you can't know how their mind for the game will develop until they play against higher competition.
 
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#4
#4
sjt18 said:
I think you are right but also that he may be better than Nico would have been. I was kind of disappointed that Nico wasn't further along than he was. They invested a year with him behind Milton but even by the end of last year he seemed to still struggle with line calls and coverage reads. Maybe expectations were too high. Maybe he would have grown into it with an off season. His physical talent is unquestionable and better than Aguilar's.

But we've seen all of that before. You recruit guys on their talent but you can't know how their mind for the game will develop until they play against higher competition.
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I agree for the most part, but I do think that if Nico could have thrown a more accurate deep ball, with a little help from the WRs, we might think a little bit differently about his tenure here. He left a lot of tuddies/yards on the field with really bad touch on his deep ball. I'm not sure if that was just adrenaline from lack of experience or if he just isn't a good deep ball passer. I'm not sure how much development helped or hurt that. I'm pretty sure they practiced all those throws a lot while he was here, but can't say 100% that he was ever good at it. If I had to guess he succumbed to the pressure and it got him and ultimately that's why he left.

Being taught to make 1000 excuses on why he couldn't be here or have success by his mentors led to the story we got. Heup and Co clearly improved the OL and WR room, which was their main argument for leaving, so nothing else really makes sense to me.
 
#5
#5
sjt18 said:
They invested a year with him behind Milton but even by the end of last year he seemed to still struggle with line calls and coverage reads.
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What are you looking at specifically which gives a sense that he struggled with line calls and coverage reads? Is that a stat like sacks or throw aways? Or, was there something the coaches said which clued you into that?
 
#6
#6
TL;DR – Joey Aguilar at Tennessee (2025)


Joey Aguilar, a transfer QB with a JUCO background and experience at App State and UCLA, is taking over as Tennessee’s QB for the 2025 season—replacing former 5-star Nico Iamaleava. Unlike Nico, Aguilar brings grit and confidence ("moxie") rather than hype. While Iamaleava had a disappointing 2024 season, Aguilar enters a better situation with stronger offensive support and a QB-friendly system.


He thrives on deep throws and led the Sun Belt in "big-time throws," though he also threw 24 interceptions in two seasons. The good news: Tennessee’s system under Josh Heupel has historically reduced QB turnovers and should help Aguilar make smarter plays. If he adapts, he could exceed Nico’s production and revitalize Tennessee’s stagnant passing attack.


Bottom line: Aguilar has big-play potential, veteran experience, and the right system to thrive—if he limits mistakes.
 
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#7
#7
wuwh_08 said:
TL;DR – Joey Aguilar at Tennessee (2025)


Joey Aguilar, a transfer QB with a JUCO background and experience at App State and UCLA, is taking over as Tennessee’s QB for the 2025 season—replacing former 5-star Nico Iamaleava. Unlike Nico, Aguilar brings grit and confidence ("moxie") rather than hype. While Iamaleava had a disappointing 2024 season, Aguilar enters a better situation with stronger offensive support and a QB-friendly system.


He thrives on deep throws and led the Sun Belt in "big-time throws," though he also threw 24 interceptions in two seasons. The good news: Tennessee’s system under Josh Heupel has historically reduced QB turnovers and should help Aguilar make smarter plays. If he adapts, he could exceed Nico’s production and revitalize Tennessee’s stagnant passing attack.


Bottom line: Aguilar has big-play potential, veteran experience, and the right system to thrive—if he limits mistakes.
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If our D is as strong as it has been, as long as he doesn’t have five int’s in one game, I’ll take a pic for every 5-7 bomb TD’s!
 
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#8
#8
When we first pulled this kid in, I was terrified of all his interceptions. But as we've all had a month or two to absorb what's going on, I'm not worried at all. I actually have a very good feeling about his performance this year. I think we have the potential for another HH. He doesn't have to match hookers performance. He probably doesn't have the receiver corps to do that. But he does have a running game that hooker never had to take the pressure off him. Having this kid on the team is going to make defenses think a hell of a lot longer about crowding the box. That's going to open up the running game. And if they do crowd the box, this kid has the potential to shoot their eyes out. He's going to have some errors and I'm quite certain of that. I'm probably going to call him everything but a white man a couple of times during the season. But at the end of it all, I got a feeling he's going to be a great story to tell for years to come. The story about a kid who never had a shot at playing in the SEC who came in at the last minute as a gunslinger and saved our bacon.
 
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#9
#9
I am good with letting anyone that climbed into better positions get the nod to start for Tennessee and really don't think replacing Nico's production is asking at a lot.
 
#10
#10
I think he has the tools to succeed. We don't need a true duel threat, but rather a QB who makes enough plays with his legs to keep the defense uneasy. Joey can do that with his skillset today.

Get him a little more disciplined with the ball, without completely removing his gunslinger instincts, and we can be dangerous against a lot of teams.

While there are a lot of questions on the O-Line, it will be one of the best he has played behind in his career. Certainly better than the paltry unit he was behind last year at App St. WRs are a huge question mark but its put up or shut up for Brazzell and Mathews now.
 
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#11
#11
The more I hear about him the more i like the pick up. Ppl need to realize: being a gun slinger means confidnece, and confidnece means you can process. Other wise what is the point of the confidence? One is confident bc they like what they see, and feel they can make the throw. gun slinging does not mean wreckless. You process at the line quickly, like what you see, are confidnet in your reads, then pull the trigger aka "gun slinger."

What was Nico's biggest probelm last year? Couldnt process. At the line Nico could not process what he was seeing and what was to come or needed throws. its that simple.
 
#14
#14
Of his INT’s, how many of them were related to the receiver not being at the correct placement? If that was an/the issue, surely with competent DI SEC receivers, that would no longer be an/the issue.
 
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#15
#15
#1fulmerite said:
If our D is as strong as it has been, as long as he doesn’t have five int’s in one game, I’ll take a pic for every 5-7 bomb TD’s!
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I don't expect our D to be as good as it has been. We lost too many top contributors on the DL and McCoy's injury will probably make our secondary markedly weaker.
 
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#19
#19
LAVol1 said:
I don't expect our D to be as good as it has been. We lost too many top contributors on the DL and McCoy's injury will probably make our secondary markedly weaker.
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DE: Bailey, West/Weathersby
NT: Moi, Hobbs
DT: Eason, Robinson/Wallace
LEO: Josephs, Herring/Ross
That depth and talent is arguably the same or better than last year

McCoy is well on his way to being healthy for the season.
 
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#21
#21
VOLfrombama said:
I agree for the most part, but I do think that if Nico could have thrown a more accurate deep ball, with a little help from the WRs, we might think a little bit differently about his tenure here. He left a lot of tuddies/yards on the field with really bad touch on his deep ball. I'm not sure if that was just adrenaline from lack of experience or if he just isn't a good deep ball passer. I'm not sure how much development helped or hurt that. I'm pretty sure they practiced all those throws a lot while he was here, but can't say 100% that he was ever good at it. If I had to guess he succumbed to the pressure and it got him and ultimately that's why he left.

Being taught to make 1000 excuses on why he couldn't be here or have success by his mentors led to the story we got. Heup and Co clearly improved the OL and WR room, which was their main argument for leaving, so nothing else really makes sense to me.
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I agree but additionally I don't know how many short throws were inaccurate either behind or out of receiver's reach or worm burners. His real threat last year was running the ball. That he is really a huge threat. Our offense was also hurt on his right side roll outs with RT holding calls. That was devastating. I sure hope Sanders or whoever can clean that up this year.
 
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#22
#22
volroadwarrior said:
I agree but additionally I don't know how many short throws were inaccurate either behind or out of receiver's reach or worm burners. His real threat last year was running the ball. That he is really a huge threat. Our offense was also hurt on his right side roll outs with RT holding calls. That was devastating. I sure hope Sanders or whoever can clean that up this year
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I sincerely hope they dont do worse. JC got called for holding at least 2-3x a game and it always seemed to end the drive
 
#23
#23
swchandler1988 said:
DE: Bailey, West/Weathersby
NT: Moi, Hobbs
DT: Eason, Robinson/Wallace
LEO: Josephs, Herring/Ross
That depth and talent is arguably the same or better than last year

McCoy is well on his way to being healthy for the season.
Click to expand...
Even better. Josephs will play a lot at SDE which gets us more Jordan Ross and allows Bailey and West to play inside. I agree less depth than last year, but do we really need a full 3-deep at every position on the DL? I think the DL will be just as good as last year.
 
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#24
#24
xpsyclonex2002 said:
When we first pulled this kid in, I was terrified of all his interceptions. But as we've all had a month or two to absorb what's going on, I'm not worried at all. I actually have a very good feeling about his performance this year. I think we have the potential for another HH. He doesn't have to match hookers performance. He probably doesn't have the receiver corps to do that. But he does have a running game that hooker never had to take the pressure off him. Having this kid on the team is going to make defenses think a hell of a lot longer about crowding the box. That's going to open up the running game. And if they do crowd the box, this kid has the potential to shoot their eyes out. He's going to have some errors and I'm quite certain of that. I'm probably going to call him everything but a white man a couple of times during the season. But at the end of it all, I got a feeling he's going to be a great story to tell for years to come. The story about a kid who never had a shot at playing in the SEC who came in at the last minute as a gunslinger and saved our bacon.
Click to expand...
I like your statement minus the run game hooker didn’t have we had a very strong run game that year not as explosive but very consistent… I believe JA will be really good here as well
 
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