What P4 Redshirt Freshman QBs are doing better than Nico?

[volfeeva]

Vandy got one off the portal that wants to score on every possession. I like his talent, energy, and passion for the game

 

[EZE]

Nope. That kid's a baller.

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

And that kid scored less points than Nico and threw a horrendous pick of his own.

So, who’s the baller?

 

[zooguy]

Marcel Reed
43-79, 585 yards, 6 tds, 0 int’s

43 carries 226 yards. 2 td’s.

3-0 as a starter. Beat Fl, Bowling Green, Arky.

He’s probably the most similar comparison to Nico, except he’s a better runner and not white the passer. Played two of the same teams (FL road, Arky neutral site).

 

[hndog609]

Apparently there are some people that really struggle with the idea that "We shouldn't really be expecting '22 Hendon Hooker from Nico at this point." and "It's fair to think we could get better results from the passing game against decent competition than we've been getting." can both be true.

 

[Capt Straight]

Covid was mostly in 2020- seniors would have been class of 2021.
Nico was class of 2023….

He played as a Jr and Sr.
As I’ve said in other posts he’s had QB training since 8th grade. He played RB a lot of his early football days.


He had more reps and resources than 99% of other HS QBs…

How may reps did he have in HS?
Seems you have been following him since birth.

 

[GVol1966]

My post on another thread:

Of the top 10 quarterbacks in the 2023 class only two are starting, Nico and Avery Johnson. Five have transferred from their original school and are buried on the depth chart. Only Manning has looked better, but he has yet to face a good defends, and only played due to Ewers getting injured.

Remember , these kids highschool development was stunted due to Covid, and Nico being from California didn’t help that situation.

As Aaron Rogers once said RELAX.

We’re not the ones that needs to relax!
Nico is .
He played well against Iowa, and the easy games at the start of the season.
The regression came once we started playing good D’s that showed how pitiful our O line is.
He’s gun shy.
He’s expecting to get hit on every drop back and his fundamentals are not good.
His head and eyes are in pass position and his feet are in get ready to run position.

 

[ArmchairQB]

Jackson Arnold is a convenient comparison from the '23 class. Started the season for Oklahoma, didn't set the world on fire in conference play, against us, and was sat down for Hawkins. Marcel Reed didn't start the season for A&M, did respectably while he was out - 160 to 180ish ypg, 50%/55%/65% completions in his three games - sat back down when Weigman came back. Is anyone else from the '23 class getting playing time against SEC-type defenses?

 

[dobre_shunka]

Vandy got one off the portal that wants to score on every possession. I like his talent, energy, and passion for the game

He also is a senior with 4 times the career starts that Nico has

 

[volfan411]

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.

Post of the day!!!! The Iowa, Chattanooga, and Kent State game created a false excitement for him due to the level of competition. I have a friend how deemed him the Heisman winner after the Iowa game last year and now is bashing him everyday.

 

[LWSVOL]

someone can correct me if im wrong didn’t look too much into it but out of the top 10 avery johnson seems to be the only one “doing well” outside of that i don’t think anyone else is even playing meaningful minutes besides nico of course and arnold before he got benched you can also throw arch’s 2-3 starts in or whatever it was

Johnson is sophomore who played in 8 games including 2 starts last year. He did get experience to prepare him for 2024. Someone else may have noted this as I haven't read all the posts.

 

[B81]

We’re not the ones that needs to relax!
Nico is .
He played well against Iowa, and the easy games at the start of the season.
The regression came once we started playing good D’s that showed how pitiful our O line is.
He’s gun shy.
He’s expecting to get hit on every drop back and his fundamentals are not good.
His head and eyes are in pass position and his feet are in get ready to run position.

I agree with your post, but to expect him to be perfect at this stage is ridiculous.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

A major problem with the nose stuck up in the air people who whine that we paid 8mil for a bust, is they lack any sense of reality. Throwing money at something doesn't make it LOOK expensive. To make it look expensive, at least, requires a heil of a lot of work. And I mean a hail of a lot of work.


Nico will get there despite the NOSE PEOPLE.

 

[vavolfan6]

Nope. That kid's a baller.

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

Once Mertz went out, the Florida offense couldn't move the ball out of their side of the field. Lagway had a nice TD throw, I'll guve him that. But otherwise he was highly ineffective and the UF offense became predictable. I immediately felt Tennessee had a chance to win with him at QB.

 

[mpfvol]

All Nico needs to do to help the team is hit wide open guys and stop turning the ball over thats it . I do not want him benched or to leave he just is not progressing game to game its getting worse. So I hope he gets his game on come Saturday and Vols beat the Bammers .
GO VOLS I hate Bama more than any other team .

 

[vavolfan6]

The amount of pressure Nico has had to play through is not really comparable to any other RS- Freshman. He has had to play two night SEC conference games on the road with the target of being a top 10 team on his back. Then you have another home game against a team our program has highly underperformed against and the fanbase is desperate to beat.

I think its a good thing that expectations have softened. They were unreasonably high. The offense was being booed on its second possession of the 1st quarter at home for goodness sakes. You could sense the nervousness in Nico with just how he would hand off or keep the ball on RPO plays.

I think now, with expectations adjusted, Nico can play more freely. We have nothing to lose against Bama. Win and you are in prime position in the SEC standings. Lose and it is in-line with expectations.

 

[Ttucke11]

Apparently there are some people that really struggle with the idea that "We shouldn't really be expecting '22 Hendon Hooker from Nico at this point." and "It's fair to think we could get better results from the passing game against decent competition than we've been getting." can both be true.

Yes! Im not gonna dog out our young QB, but I'm also not singing his praises for below average performances. He's one of the highest paid players in the country. Some responsibility does come with that. Just how it is now.

 

[Remy]

Anybody recall Rattler as an OU starter his freshman campaign where he was touted as a Heisman contender before ever having taken a college snap? I do. He got benched after a few games and transferred out of OU and the rest is history. Nico had that same hype and expectations coming in to this season after starting in last seasons bowl game. He was performing at that level until he ran into a true SEC level defense and crusty experienced DC. So Nico is seeing things he hasn't seen before at levels he hasn't played against before and it's limited his performances recently. We should have expected this as fans, some of us get it now, others want him benched, and many are ill because he got a boatload of money. The ones who mention Nico's NIL dollars are the same ones who promote a house painter from Unicoi County who has won the peewee football championship ten years in a row who would do the UT HC job every time we have a coaching search and would do it for $100K per year. Those who go after Nico for his on field play and then cannot restrain themselves from attaching the fact he got NIL $s are just not to be taken seriously IMO. NIL is here, it's part and parcel part of the college game today and if Nico was not the QB at UT you can bet your sweet donkey whoever was taking snaps this season would be collecting NIL $s as well.

 

[Ttucke11]

Johnson is sophomore who played in 8 games including 2 starts last year. He did get experience to prepare him for 2024. Someone else may have noted this as I haven't read all the posts.

Johnson and Nico are the same class. This whole calling Nico a freshman (while technically true) thing is being used dishonestly. Nico threw 45 passes last year Johnson threw 66. They both played mop up duty all year then started the bowl game. It's as direct a comparison as you can get.

 

[Carp]

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

Both yes and no.

Nico absolutely performed better overall, but he wasn't drastically better, and we have better weapons and we were at home.

Lagway was put in a worse position (on the road against a top defense, Mertz injured, poor coaching from Napier, etc) and DJ expectedly played poorly overall, aside from the TD pass at the end of regulation.

 

[molsen81]

Nico is playing against tough SEC teams and I think it will eventually pay off.

 

[Oldblood]

Offensive tackles are underperforming and so is Nico. You could argue WR’s and TE’s could be better also. Other than Samson and our interior OL, the offense has been poor against good competition. All of this adds together and a young QB can’t compensate for the other weaknesses - it probably makes him even worse.
I’m less concerned about Nico and more concerned about our ability to find and develop offensive lineman.

 

[GVol1966]

I agree with your post, but to expect him to be perfect at this stage is ridiculous.

It is. A Jr or Sr would be better equipped to perform under the circumstances.
Even NFL Qb’s , some can’t handle the pressure but play pretty good when they have plenty of time. And are bad when the D stays on them.
The really Good and Great ones get the job done even when the O line sucks.
Hopefully Nico will be able to when he’s more experienced.

When the going gets tough the tough get going!!!!
Right now he’s not tough, and playing scared. Understandably so

 

[Volle]

I've lowered my expectations for Nico-- he seems to lack savvy playmaking skills that would make him great. Yes, he has a live arm, and can be accurate when un-flustered. But where he seems to fall down is anticipating a receiver break, throwing a back shoulder or 50/50 ball, stepping up in the pocket, basic ball security, and mentally processing defensive looks. He's starting to look more like a volleyball player playing football than a football player who played vb. Alas, we have more QB's in the pipeline, but my early prediction is, Nico will eventually portal out after getting benched or injured. I have a feeling this was why he wanted to be red-shirted last year.

 

[tnmarktx]

I welcome all to watch the video. Nico isn't playing well, but there's a reason other than he just sucks. The line play is so bad that he's playing rushed. It could help him down the road when he gets better o-line play. The o-line play is maybe the worst in the country.

 

[Ttucke11]

I welcome all to watch the video. Nico isn't playing well, but there's a reason other than he just sucks. The line play is so bad that he's playing rushed. It could help him down the road when he gets better o-line play. The o-line play is maybe the worst in the country.

If the Oline is that bad, and the young guys can't beat out these guys Im not sure it's improving while he's here. Honestly, the biggest Heup concern right now is Oline recruiting and development especially if the situation is actually this dire.