TRENDING: Will Joey Aguilar Be Better Than Nico Iamaleava?

By Mark Pszonak

One of the more polarizing storylines of the 2025 season will be the performance of quarterbacks Joey Aguilar and Nico Iamaleava. Due to Iamaleava’s NIL beef with Tennessee, the two ended up swapping schools during the spring. ESPN’s Paul Finebaum believes that the Vols got the better of the deal.

WOAH🤯: ESPN’s Paul Finebaum believes Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar will have a better season than Nico Iamaleava:

“I’ll take the over on Joey having a better season than Nico (last season).”

Tennessee may have gotten the BETTER QB out of the deal. 😳#ForTheFans pic.twitter.com/tQazmxh62A
— FOX Sports Knoxville (@FOXSportsKnox) July 1, 2025

The summer is meant for wild projections, but this is one isn’t that crazy. And it isn’t crazy because if you take a deeper dive into Iamaleava’s 2024 numbers (which I already did in an earlier article), his performance was far from elite. Yes, he passed for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions, but in 10 games against P4 competition he totaled 1,920 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. That’s an average of 192 yards and one touchdown per game. Aguilar’s bar for success in Knoxville isn’t as high as many believe.

Ohio State Buckeyes defensive tackle Tyleik Williams (91) and defensive end JT Tuimoloau (44) sack Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava (8) during the first half of the College Football Playoff first round game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Dec. 21, 2024.

*© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images*

However, Aguilar arrives with his own issues. While he transferred from UCLA, that was mostly a pitstop as he played his last two seasons with Appalachian State. In 2024 he passed for 3,003 yards, 23 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while completing only 55.9% of his attempts. His interception total led the nation, and his completion percentage was 108^th out of 118 eligible quarterbacks. That isn’t good.

Despite these concerning statistics, Aguilar has the potential to be more productive than Iamaleava. Improving his accuracy is a must, but with a strong running game, he has the potential to be a dynamic dual-threat quarterback in the Vols’ offense. But can he do it against SEC defenses?