Greg McElroy defends leaving Nico Iamaleava off his Top 10 quarterbacks list

Nico Iamaleava was an honorable mention in Greg McElroy’s top 10 quarterbacks list heading into the 2025 college football season. Iamaleava’s spot on the list, topped by Clemson‘s Cade Klubnik, was predicated on his transfer from Tennessee to UCLA.

McElroy’s top 10 list may stir up some controversy for some of the names put on it, or omitted in Iamaleava’s case. The former Alabama quarterback defended his ranking of Iamaleava before breaking down his best quarterbacks in the country this season.

“This was a guy that was in our top 10 going into the season [last year],” McElroy said. “He was in it, and he fell out because I don’t know who’s going to be around Nico Iamaleava at UCLA. Now, had he been at Tennessee — no doubt. Top seven, probably top eight, but now not knowing what’s to be expected, as far as how comfortable is he within the offense. He’ll have the summer and it’ll have fall camp, but then live bullets are flying.

“Last year, he had an amazing run game to lean on. He had a system that was ready-made to make it as easy on the quarterback as just about any system in the country. Now, he goes into a summer where he’s trying to develop a rapport with new teammates. He’s trying to learn a new offense. There’s just too many unknowns surrounding Nico Iamaleava to feel great about having him in the top 10.”

During his time at Tennessee, Iamaleava sat behind Joe Milton as a freshman before taking over as the starter on Rocky Top in 2024. He threw for 2,616 yards and 19 touchdowns, along with five interceptions, in 2024 while helping Tennessee to a 10-3 record and a first-round appearance in the CFP.

Now that he’s joining the unknown at UCLA in a new conference with new coaches and new teammates, it remains to be answered how he’ll adjust to his new environment. This has left McElroy hesitant to put Iamaleava in his initial preseason quarterbacks list.

“Now, I think he’s got a top 10, top five skill set for sure. Arm talent, throwing the ball down field, tight spirals, accurate when things are perfect. Tremendous athleticism for a guy that’s 6 foot 6. Yeah, he checks all the boxes physically.

“But now, with the situation that he is now playing in, I don’t know if I can comfortably put him in the top 10. So he, right now, makes the honorable mention category. But if he can prove to me that there isn’t any drop off, that there’s actually progress made from where he was last year, and he’ll be back on the top.”