By Mark Pszonak
The Nico Iamaleava NIL saga has taken over the college football world during the last 36 hours. And while I personally believe that the entire situation is mind numbing and annoying, there is an important aspect that hasn’t gained enough attention. Is Iamaleava worth the 4M he is supposedly asking for?
Iamaleava jumped into the spotlight during the 2023 Citrus Bowl against Iowa when during his first collegiate start he completed 12 of 19 passes for 151 yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for three touchdowns.
What followed was the 2024 season, when Iamaleava passed for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 63.8% of his passes. He also rushed for 358 yards and three touchdowns. These are quality results, but when you take a deeper dive you can learn a few more things.
Against the Vols three non-P4 opponents, Chattanooga, Kent State and UTEP, Iamaleava completed 49 of 67 passes for 696 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions. Which means that in the remaining 10 games against P4 competition, he passed for 1,920 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. Suddenly, the quality results from his overall performance are pedestrian at best when you only consider his play against top-level competition.
Is this pedestrian performance worth 4M in 2025? If he gets the amount and does not play at a higher level, the Vols fanbase will turn on him at a record pace, especially after the current drama that they are enduring. And the fans wouldn’t have to wait very long to see if he is worth the 4M, because after a somewhat tricky season opener against Syracuse in Atlanta, it becomes very real on September 13th when Georgia rolls into Knoxville for the SEC opener.
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The truth is that the options aren’t robust for the Vols right now if they don’t reach a deal with Iamaleava. Would anyone be confident in going into the season with redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger or true freshman George MacIntyre leading the offense? Unlikely. There is always the opportunity to find a quarterback in the upcoming spring portal window, but the quantity and quality of players, and especially quarterbacks, is diminished immensely compared to the winter window. And you can be sure that Iamaleava understands the situation the Vols are in.
But this is where the sport currently stands. Decisions have to be made about situations which just a couple of years ago would have been considered ridiculous. So it may not matter if he is worth the 4M, because he will likely get it either way.
