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Lucas Panzica talks about the state of the Tennessee Volunteers, heading into the 2025 football season, focusing in today on the backup quarterback position.
*The Vols Still Need To Answer A Very UNDERRATED Question...*
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0:00
As spring practice continues for the Tennessee volunteers, there is one position that we have not talked about enough that could take a big step back in 2025
0:13
Hey, Lucas Panziki here from 104,5, The Zone, and A to Z sports. Look, there are a lot of question marks on this Tennessee roster for the upcoming season
0:21
No doubt, wide receiver, offensive line, pass rusher, who steps up to replace the production of James Pierce, Jr., cornerback, who fills
0:29
in while Germant McCoy recovers from his ACL injury, a lot to work on throughout the course
0:35
of spring practice and the rest of this offseason for this football team. But there is one very
0:40
under discussed position that fits that category, and it's the backup quarterback spot. Think about
0:47
this. Since Josh Heipel took over as the head coach at Tennessee in 2021, the Vols quietly
0:53
have had one of the best backup quarterback situations in the country, let alone the SEC during that
0:59
time. Josh Heiple gets to Knoxville and acquires a team, inherits a team that already has
1:05
Hendon Hooker in place. He goes out and gets a veteran quarterback in the portal in Joe Milton
1:10
We all understand what happened from there. Joe Milton initially started. Hendon Hooker came in
1:16
The rest is history with Hooker taking this offense to great heights in 2022
1:20
But Joe Milton stayed as his backup. And we saw how that paid off for Tennessee in that
1:26
Orange Bowl following the 2022 season. Then 2020, comes along, Joe Milton has his opportunity as the starting quarterback with a five-star freshman
1:35
in Nico Iamaliava backing him up. Not a bad situation to be in. Joe Milton moves on to the NFL
1:41
draft and in 2024, Nico Iamaliava is the starting quarterback with an experienced stable backup
1:48
in Gaston Moore Now Gaston Moore didn have the talent profile that Hendon Hooker Joe Milton or Nico Iamaliava did but he was a very experienced and competent backup that had been in the Josh Hypoil system since the UCF days
2:04
And Gaston Moore was a guy that could come in and win you a game in a pinch
2:08
And we saw that when he came in and played the entire second half against Mississippi State when Nico Iamaliava left that game with a concussion
2:17
Now, I understand a lot of you may have a lasting image of Gaston Moore
2:21
throwing an interception against Alabama on the one play that he came in
2:25
But make no mistake, Tennessee had an excellent backup quarterback situation. They could trust Gaston Moore to come in and take care of things and just stabilize
2:35
things in a pinch if Nico was out. Well, Gaston Moore is no longer on this football team
2:40
And as we look towards 2025, Nico Iamaliava obviously will enter another year's
2:46
this team starting quarterback. But who will be the backup? That's a battle at the moment between incoming sophomore Jake Marklinger and freshman George McIntyre
2:56
Now, both players were highly recruited. We're four-star prospects out of high school, but both players are extremely inexperienced
3:04
So there's no question. There will be a talented option there regardless of who wins it
3:08
And at the moment, you'd probably give Jake Merklinger the slight edge just for having a year in the system
3:14
For George McIntyre at a Brentwood Academy, there's a lot to work on, including his frame
3:18
as he gets acclimated to the college game. But it is a question mark until we see one of those two guys
3:25
actually get reps at the quarterback position. There's no question. The backup quarterback spot for Tennessee has as many questions in 2025
3:34
as it has had in the entire Josh Heipel era. Now, again, both guys are talented
3:40
and in the end, somebody's going to win that job, and this coaching staff will trust them
3:44
hopefully they will not need them in 2025. but it's something to think about and something that this football program will have to focus on throughout the course of this offseason
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