Nico is looking like a CHAMPIONSHIP QB right now...

#51
#51
NighthawkVol said:
I agree with this post. Not to bring up a negative, but I’m just curious as to what happened on the interception. He had a wide-open touchdown and threw it way short and inside. The announcers were convinced it was an under throw, but I just don’t see him under throwing it that badly. He must’ve thought that the receiver was gonna slant in, correct?
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The over throws may have something to do with it and he just flattened out the throw and took to much off the pass. If the pass is thrown on a rope it's probably a td. He just took to much off the throw. About a good 10 yards.
 
#52
#52
22-28 and 300 + yards in a half vs UT Chatt.
Don’t let the weak competition of the last couple games make you overreact.

He’s improved. But he’s got a lot of improvement still to do.

Playoff competition will tell how much he’s improved.
Hopefully enough, and the OL and WR do enough too.
 
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#53
#53
GVol1966 said:
22-28 and 300 + yards in a half vs UT Chatt.
Don’t let the weak competition of the last couple games make you overreact.

He’s improved. But he’s got a lot of improvement still to do.

Playoff competition will tell how much he’s improved.
Hopefully enough, and the OL and WR do enough too.
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This. He is not yet a top performer against top competition. But he could be eventually.
 
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#55
#55
BigNasty said:
Keep in mind he had all day to sit in the pocket.
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This is the key. The only games where Nico has looked bad, and the only games we've lost, are the games where he was sacked at least 4 times. If our OL protects him, we can beat anyone.
 
#56
#56
How many times can I type O Line before Freak has enough and boots me off the site?

Hooker looked like a championship QB because of the OLine...when Milton looked good, O Line was giving him time...now Nico looks good in large part to the effectiveness of the OLine.

I've given Heupel somewhat of a pass up to now due to the scholarship restrictions and needing to spend those on other players like QB, WR, RB, DB, LB, etc. but the O Line MUST take a giant step forward next year for me to truly believe Heupel can bring home a National Title here.
 
#57
#57
SIAP...., but for some inexplicable reason Vandy chose to rush three all day. Never adjusted, much the same way we never brought guys up to put pressure on Beck against UGA. Nico is definitely growing and is seeing things better...maybe still holds the ball a bit too long. I suspect the team(s) we play in the playoff will try to put more pressure on him since our O line is suspect in defending blitz packages and that's where Nico seems to get overwhelmed. How he handles that will tell us more about whether or not he's approaching "Championship" QB level.
 
#58
#58
NcVolfan24 said:
Yeah he finally looked more like a sophomore/junior than a "true freshman" as they kept calling him this season. IMO he should be playing like a sophomore/junior with the time he's had to prepare, his raw talent, and what our scheme has to offer (albeit the scheme hasn't shown through much this year).

If the scheme, talent, and experience is all coming together as it looked to be today, watch out world, the Vols are goin huntin.
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Not sure why you are including "junior"? It's literally his second year, but first with any significant playing time.
 
#59
#59
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
I think Nico has turned a corner. Ever since the start of the Georgia game he's looked like a different player. He looks like a championship QB. We're a team no longer carrying an inexperienced QB to victory. He's now carrying us offensively. If Nico continues to play at this level we can beat anybody.

Now we just need to get healthy.
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I hope he has but Vanderbilt game plan to just rush 3 a lot was bad IMO. That was the most time Nico has had in any SEC game this year. I will say I was happy to see he recognized pressure and escaped and got positive yards a lot. One of the best things he did was shake off a terrible early interception and go on to throw 4 TDs great overall play.
 
#60
#60



Interesting to see this today. Nico is far from perfect and still growing as a player. He’s only 20 y’all. And QB is a position where growth isn’t always linear. It took Hendon 6 years of college to look amazing (and that’s no shot at HH, just reality).

He’s only going to continue to improve and his best football is still in front of him. For comparison sake, Ewers who has probably the most talent around him in the country is doing worse than Nico.

5 picks in 12 games…I’ll take that any day from any QB. Always room to improve but the trajectory of this offense is going up.
 
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#61
#61
Remy said:
After starting 12 games this season Nico is no longer a freshman. He’s a sophomore at least.
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He's an Academic Sophomore
that played 5 games as a True Freshman
Eligibility wise he is a Redshirt Freshman
with 3 more years to play after this year.
 
#63
#63
Nico has improved, not ready to call him a championship QB just yet. Maybe in the future
 
#64
#64
I agree with this. Look at his body language in Norman compared to Athens. No deer in the headlights look. The game doesn't seem to be going too fast for him. He's super poised, he's scanning the field and checking down receivers. I love to look at body language as soon as something goes wrong and he's always calm. Jaxson Dart isn't lol. That kid falls apart. Would love to see Tennessee give a full 4 Qs one game this season tho
 
#65
#65
BanditVol said:
Not sure why you are including "junior"? It's literally his second year, but first with any significant playing time.
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Its just my take on the combination of talent, a redshirt year of experience, and this full year of starting every game. I fully understand he isn't a junior.

I think as a fan, you hope a player of that caliber with plenty of experience now under his belt would look more like a junior than a freshman.

If we are going to make any real noise in the playoff, he will need to look like a junior.
 
#66
#66
CAVPUT said:
When you're facing a 3 man rush that has no shot of getting home, it's gonna make most every QB look good....and the WRs as well.
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You do know just because they had 3 down lineman doesn’t always equate to just rushing 3 don’t you? They brought 4 a lot of times 5 especially in 2nd half. On short yardage they blitzed bout every time. The run game is what did Vandy in. Nico ran the play action bout as good as it gets. Their safety got a lesson in biting on the run. Anyway, glad you could come up with something to complain about ;)
 
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#67
#67
He had a horrid start against UTEP and then played pretty well but not great against Vandy. This is not necessarily the stuff of champions.

If he has “championship quarterback” in him, we haven’t seen it yet.
 
#70
#70
IndianaVol said:
How many times can I type O Line before Freak has enough and boots me off the site?

Hooker looked like a championship QB because of the OLine...when Milton looked good, O Line was giving him time...now Nico looks good in large part to the effectiveness of the OLine.

I've given Heupel somewhat of a pass up to now due to the scholarship restrictions and needing to spend those on other players like QB, WR, RB, DB, LB, etc. but the O Line MUST take a giant step forward next year for me to truly believe Heupel can bring home a National Title here.
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We need much better play from more than just the OL to win a NC.
 
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#71
#71
Bollweevil said:
I liked Nico's attitude after the td to Kitselman. Nothing wrong with a little aggression from a leader.
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I rewatched that one.. wouldn’t you love to know what the Vandy player said? 😂 Nico’s teammates were sort of pushing him back so he wouldn’t get into trouble it looked like.. Vandy was being very mouthy and trying to get people to fight, but the majority of the Vols were doing a good job not taking the bait
 
#73
#73
NcVolfan24 said:
Yeah he finally looked more like a sophomore/junior than a "true freshman" as they kept calling him this season. IMO he should be playing like a sophomore/junior with the time he's had to prepare, his raw talent, and what our scheme has to offer (albeit the scheme hasn't shown through much this year).

If the scheme, talent, and experience is all coming together as it looked to be today, watch out world, the Vols are goin huntin.
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He is playing like a junior with the way he reads the field, which we shouldn't expect with just 13 starts. IDC how much practice you have, game reps are different.

Nico has struggled with the deep ball. Other than that, there is nothing to complain about. The last 5 games have been totally satisfactory.
 
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#74
#74
n_huffhines said:
McShay has Nico as the 3rd best QB in the playoff
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McShay is a smart guy. Nico is definitely better than most of the field. And he's the only freshman there. Only QBs in his class is the Oregon QB. So I would have him 2nd at worst. Quinn Ewers isn't better than Nico.
 
#75
#75
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
I think Nico has turned a corner. Ever since the start of the Georgia game he's looked like a different player. He looks like a championship QB. We're a team no longer carrying an inexperienced QB to victory. He's now carrying us offensively. If Nico continues to play at this level we can beat anybody.

Now we just need to get healthy.
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I think the coaching staff has finally figured out his strength right now is his ability to throw post routes and are calling more of those plays. He’s still learning how to throw deep sideline passes at college game speed. That will come with more in-game reps. Once he gets comfortable with that timing all I can say is look out SEC.
 
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