Why Joey Aguilar Can Be An Elite QB1 For The Vols This Fall
Image: On3 VolQuest
By Garrett Armbrust
When Nico Iamaleava hit the transfer portal at the end of the spring window the QB position seemed doomed.
The spring game was a competition between Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre, both elite high school prospects but not much college experience.
It was evident that more than likely the QB1 position would have to come through the portal. Tough situation for Merk? Sure, but with some of the names being floated around in the offseason you had to at least to take a chance.
We heard names like Josh Hoover (TCU), Avery Johnson (Kansas State), Luke Altmyer (Illinois), etc., all with the possibility of them coming to Knoxville to save the offense.
Then former App State quarterback Joey Aguilar was in discussion after he transferred to UCLA in the spring. This essentially became a full on QB swap between UCLA and Tennessee with Aguilar and Iamaleava.
When people saw Aguilar first commit to the Vols it came with mixed reviews.
Will his turnover problem continue? Is he actually better than the current options? Will he be able to play in the SEC after being in the Sun Belt?
The answer to all those questions is still — we don’t know.
The thing is, I’m pretty confident that it will work out. Aguilar started his career as a low level prospect that played JUCO ball his first two seasons of college at Diablo Valley Community College in his home state of California.
He had solid numbers and was one of the top JUCO QBs available in the portal and transferred across the country to App State.
Moving across the country and going from JUCO to FBS football isn’t easy. His first season at App State (2023), Aguilar made it look pretty easy.
He threw for 3,757 yards and 33 TDs. His INT rate was pretty low and he led App State to a 9-win season and a Sun Belt Championship Game appearance.
That season isn’t talked about though by lots of Vol fans. Most of them instead point to the 2024 season in which he threw for 3,003 yards and 23 TDs, but also had 14 INTs.
The problem is people don’t take everything into account. His O-line play at times was poor causing him to have to get outside the pocket and make hero plays.
His head coach, Shawn Clark, was fired after the season, which obviously showed the team itself was not up to par.
The biggest thing people don’t even discuss was a hurricane that displaced much of Boone, NC and the surrounding area around the App State campus.
That led to the Liberty game being canceled, different practice schedules from time to time, and different on-campus life after the storm.
I think it’s fair that we can throw last season maybe not completely out the window but somewhat out the window with everything out of the ordinary that transpired.
Aguilar has an excellent arm with four full seasons as a college QB and two full seasons as an FBS starter. While I’m not going to sit here and say he’s going to be John Mateer, DJ Lagway, or Arch Manning, he has much more experience than many of the SEC starters going into this season.
The Josh Heupel and Joey Halzle offense isn’t going to force to him to throw ill-advised passes over the middle and make him a turnover problem.
The offense is going to do their usual short passes, get receivers open on the sidelines, and utilize the deep backfield. The shots down the field will be methodical percentage plays that truthfully Iamaleava landed very rarely last season.
Aguilar doesn’t need to be a dual-threat guy, anything flashy, or an over-aggressive passer in the pocket.
He simply needs to be smart, use his experience, and let drives develop in the UT offense. His arm is his strength and I’m confident he will land the deep ball more frequently than Nico did.
If he throws a handful of interceptions but it’s an offense closer to what we saw in 2022, I think we will all take it. The truth that the offense has been stuck in the mud the last two seasons is a very real thing.
Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton were also labeled as turnover problems before they got to Tennessee but rarely turned it over once transferring in.
Plus — Miles Kitselman has already also talked about Aguilar’s leadership that wasn’t a part of the team last season. That’s another good sign.
I think Aguilar flourishes in this offense. Losing Nico to UCLA sucked at the time but things like this sometimes happen for a reason. Aguilar is slept on by everybody going into the season just as Hooker was.
Just let the man do his thing and trust the process. Joey Aguilar can be a great QB1 for the Vols this fall that finally gives the offense the missing piece it’s needed even if comes with a few interceptions.