National Opinion of Nico

[lukeneyland]

I agree with the difference of opinions. One of the problems may be is Joe thinks he is better than he is as a playing QB. He shows a lot of confidence, but has been unable to play to his potential.

That’s a really unfair and baseless accusation to put on Joe. He obviously had his flaws but he never gave any reason for us to doubt his work ethic. Playing QB at UT against our schedule is an incredibly difficult task.

 

[orangemadam]

It was somewhat of a bash of Joe Milton because only a handful of quotes were selected
and they were negative. There were also positive comments out there of Joe, so I feel
this was somewhat a negative slant on Joe. It is unfair to compare the two, we don't know
how successful Nico will be here

 

[LittleVol]

I consume a ton of cfb podcasts and have noticed a stark difference for how they saw Joe vs how they see Nico. No, this isn't a Joe bashing post, I'm just comparing how differently these two QBs are perceived

Words I heard to describe Joe
Strong arm, Erratic, inaccurate, slow reaction time

For Nico
Calm, cerebral, smooth, most potential of anyone in the country

With Joe the common theme was "we'll see" with Nico it's "I can't wait to see". Many have mentioned this will look more like a Josh Heupel offense

Once again this is what National CFB guys said/are saying. Overall, they expect a much better offense with Nico and our current receivers

It will be better. It could be tremendously better by midseason, but I’m still tempering my expectations to for now.

Nico is taking too many unnecessary tfls or sacks. Not comfortable with what his eyes are showing him, yet.

Just waiting for him to find a rhythm.
Once that happens we WILL beat everyone we play this season. But does that click in time for NC State and OU? I hope so

 

[Enki_Amenra]

'24 Vols will be better than the '22 Vols

 

[OldLofter]

Nico had a good bowl game. Other than Tennessee fans, I don't think Nico is on the tip of anybody's tongue. In fact, I hope nobody but us here on this site are even talking about him. Stay under the radar for as long as humanly possible. Take the pressure off this young man as he learns to become a warrior right in front of our eyes. I despise pure speculation - as it means the rest of the news cycle is slow.

I agree. Let Nico play a few games and continue to develop. Let see how he does against Oklahoma. I‘m really expecting him to show well.

 

[Gandalf]

Nico had a good bowl game. Other than Tennessee fans, I don't think Nico is on the tip of anybody's tongue. In fact, I hope nobody but us here on this site are even talking about him. Stay under the radar for as long as humanly possible. Take the pressure off this young man as he learns to become a warrior right in front of our eyes. I despise pure speculation - as it means the rest of the news cycle is slow.

There is ZERO chance that Nico "flies under the radar" going into the season. Heupel's system is not a cloud of dust. He has 2 easier games up front to get his sea legs and they are likely to be explosive but very vanilla. Then comes wolfpack and Oklahoma. For sure after the Oklahoma game when we are 4-0, we will NOT be in the shadows but one of the most talked about programs.

 

[OrangeTsar]

As regards Joe Milton, whatever one‘s opinion of him might be, his time at Rocky Top has concluded and it is time to move on. Let’s all just agree that he is a VFL and that he gave his all to UT which is all we could ever ask of any athlete.

 

[chuckiepoo]

There is ZERO chance that Nico "flies under the radar" going into the season. Heupel's system is not a cloud of dust. He has 2 easier games up front to get his sea legs and they are likely to be explosive but very vanilla. Then comes wolfpack and Oklahoma. For sure after the Oklahoma game when we are 4-0, we will NOT be in the shadows but one of the most talked about programs.

 

[chuckiepoo]

As regards Joe Milton, whatever one‘s opinion of him might be, his time at Rocky Top has concluded and it is time to move on. Let’s all just agree that he is a VFL and that he gave his all to UT which is all we could ever ask of any athlete.

We’ve only recently let go of bashing JG.

JMIII could take a minute. We’ll need a new distraction. Maybe a 5* or three…

 

[BanditVol]

Me? I think it's all about mostly three things
People hunting for something to whine about.
People wanting to create some form of conflict or controversy.
People miss their whipping boy and seeking opportunity to whip him some more.

We got a new season, a new QB, sure looks like both fun and anxious expectations.
Can we enjoy that without drama about someone who isn't even at the Ut anymore?

The OP went out of his way to say this wasn't bashing Milton.

Bro...read what you write about drama. Very carefully. Then go look up "irony" in the dictionary. OMFG.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Nico had a good bowl game. Other than Tennessee fans, I don't think Nico is on the tip of anybody's tongue. In fact, I hope nobody but us here on this site are even talking about him. Stay under the radar for as long as humanly possible. Take the pressure off this young man as he learns to become a warrior right in front of our eyes. I despise pure speculation - as it means the rest of the news cycle is slow.

He's on just about every Vegas bookie's list of the 4 to 7 most likely Heisman winners. A whole lot more people than just Tennessee fans are talking about him.

 

[KnoxVol70]

He is the real deal. From what we’ve heard from reports, he might be better than Hooker was in 2022 already. By the time we play UGA in November, it could be a repeat of the hype from 2022, just with a different result.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

The OP went out of his way to say this wasn't bashing Milton.

Bro...read what you write about drama. Very carefully. Then go look up "irony" in the dictionary. OMFG.

Oh brother, some people! Look, I have nothing but respect for you -- and not much of that.

 

[obxvol]

Nico needs to put some meat on his bones. He looks skinny. Hope he can take a hit or two. His longevity is my biggest concern.

 

[I4Vols]

Well ESPN does not have him in Top 10 so Nationally he's not getting Orange sunglasses.
1. Beck UGA
2. Gabriel Org
3. Ewers Texas
4. Milroe Bama
5.Fifita Ariz.
6 Dart O Miss
7. Daniels Kansas
8. Shedeur Colo
9.Rising Utah
10. Cam Ward Miami
also receiving votes
Cook, Leonard, Howard, Greene, Nico, K Salter, Uiagalelei, Arnold, Weigman, Drones, and Will Rogers

This list reminds me of those little kid books... "Where in the World is Arch Manning?"
He might be 28, divorced, remarried, with three kids and rival TA&M in the Big10 before he makes this list.

 

[VolnGermany]

Well ESPN does not have him in Top 10 so Nationally he's not getting Orange sunglasses.
1. Beck UGA
2. Gabriel Org
3. Ewers Texas
4. Milroe Bama
5.Fifita Ariz.
6 Dart O Miss
7. Daniels Kansas
8. Shedeur Colo
9.Rising Utah
10. Cam Ward Miami
also receiving votes
Cook, Leonard, Howard, Greene, Nico, K Salter, Uiagalelei, Arnold, Weigman, Drones, and Will Rogers

Won’t someone think of the Clubniks?! What kind of animals are you there in sports media!!

 

[VolnGermany]

There is ZERO chance that Nico "flies under the radar" going into the season. Heupel's system is not a cloud of dust. He has 2 easier games up front to get his sea legs and they are likely to be explosive but very vanilla. Then comes wolfpack and Oklahoma. For sure after the Oklahoma game when we are 4-0, we will NOT be in the shadows but one of the most talked about programs.

Wolfpack is the second game. That game may very well look like the Pitt game, hopefully the ‘22 Pitt game. So Nico has one warm up game. But I agree with you otherwise.

 

[Prayivm3rcy]

I'll say this. I feel better about Nico than I did before Hookers '22 season but I didn't feel the same way about Joe last year. I was just hoping that Joe could keep the momentum going.

 

[sami]

Who. F***king. Cares?

Honestly, the hack national media opinion of any of our programs or players couldn't possibly be less important. Just keep recruiting well and winning and the rankings will take care of themselves and they'll all probably be jumping on the bandwagon, anyway, leeches that they are.

 

[BanditVol]

Nico needs to put some meat on his bones. He looks skinny. Hope he can take a hit or two. His longevity is my biggest concern.

He looks heavy compared to Tua

 

[OneVolNation]

The most exciting part to me is that Nico already has that game day experience under his belt vs. Iowa. It's not like he has to learn a lot of new stuff.

 

[Volador]

He's on just about every Vegas bookie's list of the 4 to 7 most likely Heisman winners. A whole lot more people than just Tennessee fans are talking about him.

Fine. But can we win a bunch of games before we go into HYPE erspace?

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Fine. But can we win a bunch of games before we go into HYPE erspace?

Ask Vegas. They're the ones putting him that high on their lists.

 

[chuckiepoo]

leeches that they are.

Dayum, @sami

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Well ESPN does not have him in Top 10 so Nationally he's not getting Orange sunglasses.
1. Beck UGA
2. Gabriel Org
3. Ewers Texas
4. Milroe Bama
5.Fifita Ariz.
6 Dart O Miss
7. Daniels Kansas
8. Shedeur Colo
9.Rising Utah
10. Cam Ward Miami
also receiving votes
Cook, Leonard, Howard, Greene, Nico, K Salter, Uiagalelei, Arnold, Weigman, Drones, and Will Rogers

In all fairness, Nico shouldn’t be top 10 right now. He hasn’t earned it yet.