QB Joey Aguilar commits to UT from portal

[Hairy Vols]

Stats

CMP	ATT	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	LNG	RTG
218	390	55.9	3,003	7.7	23	14	83	132.9
293	460	63.7	3,757	8.2	33	10	77	151.6

24 picks in 2 seasons. SEC DBs will eat him alive.

He also improved greatly his second season. If he continued at the same rate of improvement he would hit 43 TDs and 6 INTs.

He will also have the best coaching, resources, and WRs he's ever had. So really it could go either way

 

[KnoxToTheBoro93]

4 games we did not score in first half, runs out of bounds vs Arky with no time on clock QB rating of 36 that game was rated 10th at QB in SEC. We won 10 games in spite of Nico, Thanks D & Dylan Sampson.

To be fair not scoring was equally on the entire offense not quite clicking… Sampson fumbled in +territory multiple times during that stretch… Nico was not great by any stretch but he was not as horrible as some of you try to make him out to be… I always root for the Vols and I hope this guy can be similar to a pavia type gamer.

 

[aRmo]

To be fair not scoring was equally on the entire offense not quite clicking… Sampson fumbled in +territory multiple times during that stretch… Nico was not great by any stretch but he was as horrible as some of you try to make him out to be… I always root for the Vols and I hope this guy can be similar to a pavia type gamer.

They are going through the break up phase. Let them vent

 

[FanDude]

Tennessee just did the most hilarious thing possible. LFGBO!!!

If Coach fits Wild Thing with a pair of glasses, we good. Go Vols!

 

[ArmchairQB]

If Nico had stayed, and blew an ACL in the first half against Syracuse, should we feel better or worse having Aguilar on the depth chart? Maybe Aguilar starts and maybe he doesn’t. He’s either better than the heir apparent at this stage of the game or he’s not. It is what it is as far as what we could do considering the timing, but our QB room is undeniably deeper than it was when we showed Nico the door.

Next man up!

 

[SWOvol]

He also improved greatly his second season. If he continued at the same rate of improvement he would hit 43 TDs and 6 INTs.

He will also have the best coaching, resources, and WRs he's ever had. So really it could go either way

Actually the top line is 2024 and the bottom line are his 2023 stats.

 

[Volador]

He brings the one thing we really need at QB: Experience. No, not against the SEC however, he has been on the NCAAF battlefield for two seasons. Good pickup and now we have our three QBs.

Do we have any money left to pick up some WR's and other needed positions?

Go Vols

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

So...we take a QB from a bad football team that UCLA didn't want in exchange for our starting QB coming off a playoff team? And this is suppose to be a good thing?

Only if you value CJH’s evaluation skills more than those of our emotionally challenged fans.

Situations like these, really provide clarity on the value add of fans more than players. Fans output is immediate, players not until they step on the field.

Some of our folks give BVS syndrome a bad name.

 

[farmdogvol]

Aguilar will start in Atlanta vs Syracuse you just can't start a freshman in a neutral field P4 game to start the season, remember Nate Peterman. I'd almost bet big money he's played a lot of games vs P4 teams at App. I think one of them will play 4 games next season and they will get a chance the 2nd game vs ETSU then we have UGA. After that Gmac or Merk may get some play versus UAB. By this time, they will know whether to go with the portal guy or go all out young. Josh passed on the Notre Dame QB so I think he sees something in Aguilar he likes.

Starting a Freshman against NCST on a neutral field worked out alright last year.

 

[SpookyAction]

Stats

CMP	ATT	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	LNG	RTG
218	390	55.9	3,003	7.7	23	14	83	132.9
293	460	63.7	3,757	8.2	33	10	77	151.6

24 picks in 2 seasons. SEC DBs will eat him alive.

If he improves as much as he did in the first two years, it will be 43 TD and 6 picks. I can live with that Picks can also be wrong route running. I trust our coach!

He also improved greatly his second season. If he continued at the same rate of improvement he would hit 43 TDs and 6 INTs.

He will also have the best coaching, resources, and WRs he's ever had. So really it could go either way

His good season was 2023 (on bottom). 2024 was the rough season. That chart is upside down. 2023 Aguilar helps us win games. 2024 Aguilar had a rough season. The Clemson highlights looks like he was like a hunted animal. His OLine was severely outclassed.
Even 10 INTs is a lot for our offense.

That footage demonstrates exactly how teams like AppSt are going to lose any players who have good seasons in the Portal era. He could be a brand new QB in our offense and with some protection. I do worry about our OLine in conference play. They probably won't do any of our QBs any favors.

Jonathan Crompton was a Heisman winning candidate in practice

Heath Shuler was the best QB Mike Ditka ever coached at team practice. He said Shuler looked like a star with the no-hit jersey on.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

Say what you want to believe....If he was their guy they wouldn't have gone after Nico. They didn't take Nico to be the backup. Nico has 2 years under his belt with a playoff team to boot from the SEC. The APP State QB was left out in the cold.

They went after the flashy potential like we did a couple of years ago. If this guy has leadership skills, we could be the winner in this trade. CAN Nico EVER live up to his service inspired star hype? Trends are not in his favor, but we only have to have a solid backup to win the trade. A room of 2 was not acceptable.

 

[CAVPUT]

Does App State have any receivers talented enough to get down the field that far with separation against a playoff team, or even if it does, does it have an O-line that can hold off a playoff team's defense long enough for a route over 15 yards to develop?

Hint: Tennessee has both of those things.

Do we? At this point, I don't think we know.

 

[CAVPUT]

I agree we needed a back up, but don't think we needed a starter. Or else Hype has mis evaluated our two qb on the roster now.

No way that could be the case..... could it?

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Gmac would be headed straight to the med tent after his first sack. He is no way ready!

Yeah I keep wondering if some people on here have even seen a picture of GMac recently. A strong wind would blow this guy over. He has to get bigger physically before he can play at this level.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

When we go 7-5 next year, we can all feel better knowing we didn't go after a better qb because it was the unethical thing to do.

Hard to believe this was the best we could do.... Lord, I hope I'm wrong.

This is the reality. The reason we had to settle for Aguilar is because better QB's turned us down because we have no proven playmakers in the WR room. If Huepel had acted with a greater sense of urgency back in December and gotten a couple of proven WR's in the portal, we would be having a different conversation right now. Taking Aguilar was a direct result of this staff's failure to act back in December. It's by far my biggest criticism of this staff since they stepped on campus. It's one thing to struggle to crack the top 10 in recruiting. It's another to not act with any urgency to try and supplement that in the portal. And don't give me the lack of funds horseshit. We just paid 4 million for a basketball player!

 

[Go47]

He’s a level of player they could get this late in the process. Good backup . . . Who could surprise and win the starting job, but it is more likely he backs up Merk. Either way, the QB position is likely conference average at best this year. My guess is the team leans on our defense and Peyton Lewis.

 

[jaguinn5]

This is the reality. The reason we had to settle for Aguilar is because better QB's turned us down because we have no proven playmakers in the WR room. If Huepel had acted with a greater sense of urgency back in December and gotten a couple of proven WR's in the portal, we would be having a different conversation right now. Taking Aguilar was a direct result of this staff's failure to act back in December.

It’s good to know you have such a good sense of who will be and won’t be a great football player at this level. We should all be thankful.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

It’s good to know you have such a good sense of who will be and won’t be a great football player at this level. We should all be thankful.

Your snarky comment doesn't change the facts.

Fact #1. We have no proven playmakers at the WR position.

Fact #2. Not having any proven playmakers prohibited us from landing a better QB in the portal.

 

[Vfl2407]

Is it too late to schedule UCLA for the upcoming season?

Just imagine how great the ratings would be.

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

Nicos brother Madden just gave Arkansas the middle finger too. Heading to UCLA

I think Nick and the clan got tired of airports.

 

[rocytop2624]

How many years of eligibility?

This is it.

 

[ftsandersvol]

The better stats were 2023.
2024 was the 14 INT season.

Nico would have had more interceptions if the DBs were 12 feet tall and could run a 3.8 40.

 

[KTrain]

Starting a Freshman against NCST on a neutral field worked out alright last year.

So, Nico played in 5 games his true freshman year and you're equalizing that to Merklinger's 9 pass attempts in 2024. Nico started the Bowl game and if you think Merks true freshman year is on the same scale as someone that played 4 games with actual stats and started the Bowl game, I just don't know what to tell you. Last year was basically Nicos 3rd year he enrolled early went thru Bowl practices his senior HS year as early enrolee.

 

[ftsandersvol]

We may have just been part of the first trade in college football history.

 

[ftsandersvol]

I think Nick and the clan got tired of airports.