What P4 Redshirt Freshman QBs are doing better than Nico?

[posivol]

Do you think he did better than the true freshman Gator?

yes

 

[jwells]

“Other guys are bad so it’s ok to be bad”.

Interesting take-away. I don't think that's the point. The point is the expectations may exceed the reality of young QB play, nation-wide. More, it's not like he's out there flailing behind a good OL. He's in a pretty tough spot trying to move the ball with the 5 guys in front of him seemingly working for the other team half the time.

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

A lot of us expected Nico to be a stone-cold killer right out of the gate. I do think it’s fair to say he’s disappointed in SEC play, because he is a redshirt freshman, not a true freshman. That being said, he was never going to be the second coming of Peyton, Clausen, and Dobbs all rolled into one like we hyped him up to be. Posters like @WoodsmanVol were right: we hyped him up too much and when he didn’t live up to it, suddenly a lot of us decided he was trash. Unfair and downright silly. Let’s see where he is by end of season and into next year.

 

[Volbrando]

what P4 redshirt freshman has been on campus and with their team since Dec. 2022?

I understand he hasn't been SEC level competition until this year however... sadly. He looked really good in the Iowa bowl game though, we need more of that. Now he seems more scared than he was back then

 

[bpalmer28]

A lot of us expected Nico to be a stone-cold killer right out of the gate. I do think it’s fair to say he’s disappointed in SEC play, because he is a redshirt freshman, not a true freshman. That being said, he was never going to be the second coming of Peyton, Clausen, and Dobbs all rolled into one like we hyped him up to be. Posters like @WoodsmanVol were right: we hyped him up too much and when he didn’t live up to it, suddenly a lot of us decided he was trash. Unfair and downright silly. Let’s see where he is by end of season and into next year.

Solid post. I wasn't expecting Nico to be great this year, but I did expect him to be better than Milton. In hindsight, that may have been an unfair expectation. Milton was a 6th year senior with significantly more playing time under his belt when he was given the starting role.

 

[EZE]

Nico being from California didn’t help him how, exactly?

You been living under a rock?

 

[Vol865]

A lot of us expected Nico to be a stone-cold killer right out of the gate. I do think it’s fair to say he’s disappointed in SEC play, because he is a redshirt freshman, not a true freshman. That being said, he was never going to be the second coming of Peyton, Clausen, and Dobbs all rolled into one like we hyped him up to be. Posters like @WoodsmanVol were right: we hyped him up too much and when he didn’t live up to it, suddenly a lot of us decided he was trash. Unfair and downright silly. Let’s see where he is by end of season and into next year.

This right here. They're mad because he hasn't lived up to their unrealistic expectations in his first year starting.

 

[JRich]

Y’all can argue semantics all you want, but most UT fans expected Nico to be better than he has played so far. He doesn’t have to be perfect, but geez he hasn’t broken 200 yards passing against SEC (mediocre) competition. You guys all heard the boos.

Let’s be realistic and honest, he should be playing better. He does some dumb stuff.

 

[EZE]

A lot of us expected Nico to be a stone-cold killer right out of the gate. I do think it’s fair to say he’s disappointed in SEC play, because he is a redshirt freshman, not a true freshman. That being said, he was never going to be the second coming of Peyton, Clausen, and Dobbs all rolled into one like we hyped him up to be. Posters like @WoodsmanVol were right: we hyped him up too much and when he didn’t live up to it, suddenly a lot of us decided he was trash. Unfair and downright silly. Let’s see where he is by end of season and into next year.

Even Peyton had very pedestrian freshman stats…even with all of his high school and other training.

I get it that he was a true freshman. But he played on a loaded team. And you want to talk about dialing back a playbook? They ran the ball and threw hitches and screens for the most part.

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

True Freshman Dylan Riola
1348 yards 9 TDs and 3 INTs

Sophomore Marcel Reed (co 2023)
- MBA alumni
22-57 for 370 yards 4 TDS
Vs Arkansas and Florida (2-0)



Y’all can continue to make excuses for the boy, but I won’t.

No doubt you won't.

Pissing on the team is a fun pass time for many.

 

[NEWDAYVOL]

what P4 redshirt freshman has been on campus and with their team since Dec. 2022?

I understand he hasn't been SEC level competition until this year however... sadly. He looked really good in the Iowa bowl game though, we need more of that. Now he seems more scared than he was back then

I would say all of them. I mean that's why they are called Redshirt Freshman...they've been on campus for longer than a typical Freshman. But even at that...most RS Freshman (even the great ones) aren't seeing playing time in the SEC. The only reason we know who Stetson Bennett is is because of his 5th and 6th years in college. Even NFL type QB's aren't usually great their first two years in college. We are asking a guy to be something that few if any college QBs have ever been (depending on how wild your expectations are) in the history of the game.

 

[WhenUrVolUrVFL]

Nico being from California didn’t help him how, exactly?

If you genuinely need it spelled out for you—liberal/Democrat states used Covid as an excuse to flex government power and shut things down wayyyyy harder than other, normal/sane American states.

I’m from NYC and when I came to Tennessee during “Covid” it was crazy how I saw more people in Gatlinburg than there were in Times Square. Crazy isn’t the appropriate word. Refreshing is the word.

 

[titansvolsfaninga]

Y’all can argue semantics all you want, but most UT fans expected Nico to be better than he has played so far. He doesn’t have to be perfect, but geez he hasn’t broken 200 yards passing against SEC (mediocre) competition. You guys all heard the boos.

Let’s be realistic and honest, he should be playing better. He does some dumb stuff.

The Collective IQ of those fans is probably around 80. So it is Nico's fault because he was hyped? How does that make sense.

 

[Casual Mustard Yeeter]

Are there any? Maybe there is. Maybe there's 7. I don't know. I think the list is very short if it even exists at all.

I don't care how much he is getting paid. I don't care how highly ranked he was out of HS. He is a Redshirt Freshman. It takes these guys, especially QBs, time to develop.

Quinn Ewers had a ton of hype out of HS...but he didn't have off the charts stats his Redshirt Freshman season at Texas. He is a Junior now. Nico is actually on pace to do a little better than Ewers did as a RS-FR. Our expectations are unreal and just down right ridiculous.

A lot of our fan base are fickle female dogs. Hopefully they don't run Heupel & co. out of town prematurely.

 

[Casual Mustard Yeeter]

If you genuinely need it spelled out for you—liberal/Democrat states used Covid as an excuse to flex government power and shut things down wayyyyy harder than other, normal/sane American states.

I’m from NYC and when I came to Tennessee during “Covid” it was crazy how I saw more people in Gatlinburg than there were in Times Square. Crazy isn’t the appropriate word. Refreshing is the word.

Bold of you to call any state "sane" right now.

 

[Ttucke11]

A lot of us expected Nico to be a stone-cold killer right out of the gate. I do think it’s fair to say he’s disappointed in SEC play, because he is a redshirt freshman, not a true freshman. That being said, he was never going to be the second coming of Peyton, Clausen, and Dobbs all rolled into one like we hyped him up to be. Posters like @WoodsmanVol were right: we hyped him up too much and when he didn’t live up to it, suddenly a lot of us decided he was trash. Unfair and downright silly. Let’s see where he is by end of season and into next year.

This is a rational take I can agree with. It's silly to think he's trash, but he has disappointed. He and Heupel have said as much.

Y’all can argue semantics all you want, but most UT fans expected Nico to be better than he has played so far. He doesn’t have to be perfect, but geez he hasn’t broken 200 yards passing against SEC (mediocre) competition. You guys all heard the boos.

Let’s be realistic and honest, he should be playing better. He does some dumb stuff.

He's been pretty bad in SEC play. People dumping on him are jumping the gun, however the people acting like it's impossible for a 20 year old 2nd year QB to have success are also delusional. Tons of examples of it. But guys develop differently. Jayden Daniels was pretty garbage until year 4.

 

[Carp]

Arch is doing well, but he's done it against sub par competition with an admittedly better overall team than we have.

Avery Johnson is doing well, but he didn't redshirt last year, and his competition has been much weaker.

There was a bit of a golden age in college football for freshman QBs over most of the last 10+years. Johnny Football, Caleb Williams, Bryce Young, Tua, Lawrence, etc. It seems like that age might be over in the new era of the transfer portal.

 

[JRich]

The Collective IQ of those fans is probably around 80. So it is Nico's fault because he was hyped? How does that make sense.

Don’t have to be a genius to know something is broken. Did you really think in these first 3 SEC games he would average less than 200 yards and only have one passing touchdown? They weren’t blowouts where he only played a half.

Remember, he wasn’t necessarily hyped by fans, but by UT and the media. Who gives a f what some knuckle head on VN says, me included.

 

[JRich]

This is a rational take I can agree with. It's silly to think he's trash, but he has disappointed. He and Heupel have said as much.

He's been pretty bad in SEC play. People dumping on him are jumping the gun, however the people acting like it's impossible for a 20 year old 2nd year QB to have success are also delusional. Tons of examples of it. But guys develop differently. Jayden Daniels was pretty garbage until year 4.

Yes, that’s my point. Thank you.

 

[BigALWiLson]

I did half the work, someone else do the rest. The list

2023 Top Quarterback Recruits

The 247Sports rankings are determined by our recruiting analysts after countless hours of personal observations, film evaluation and input from our network of scouts.

247sports.com

Lol same class as Nico oh this should be good.

 

[BigALWiLson]

Do you think he did better than the true freshman Gator?

Yes obviously they won the game. Stats mean little at the end of the season. It's about wins and losses. Just win and get better

 

[BigALWiLson]

what P4 redshirt freshman has been on campus and with their team since Dec. 2022?

I understand he hasn't been SEC level competition until this year however... sadly. He looked really good in the Iowa bowl game though, we need more of that. Now he seems more scared than he was back then

The OL was better last year for whatever reason. I think Heard is a problem. That group just can not get it together

 

[Vol737]

A lot of us expected Nico to be a stone-cold killer right out of the gate. I do think it’s fair to say he’s disappointed in SEC play, because he is a redshirt freshman, not a true freshman. That being said, he was never going to be the second coming of Peyton, Clausen, and Dobbs all rolled into one like we hyped him up to be. Posters like @WoodsmanVol were right: we hyped him up too much and when he didn’t live up to it, suddenly a lot of us decided he was trash. Unfair and downright silly. Let’s see where he is by end of season and into next year.

Indeed. In the past three games he has gotten a good dose of SEC football and how fast it is. Iowa and NC St were good opportunities to play against P4 schools and we saw his lack of development at moments in those games, but neither of those were anywhere close to what he's having to deal with now. This kid has to have some time to let this slow down for him. I think his struggles in the last three games, in the long run, have done more for his development than anything. Should start to sharpen him up as he's digesting all this information coming from the firehose.

 

[Volbrando]

The OL was better last year for whatever reason. I think Heard is a problem. That group just can not get it together

that's a good point

hopefully they are making some big changes or fixes this week (figuratively and literally)

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

Do you think he did better than the true freshman Gator?

Nope. That kid's a baller.

But then again, UT has a way of making FU backups look like Heisman winners.