Where Pro Football Focus ranks Tennessee's quarterback room

Tennessee football will enter the 2023 season with the seventh best quarterback room in college football, according to a ranking from Pro Football Focus. PFF’s Max Chadwick had the Vols at No. 7 behind USC, LSU, Texas, Ole Miss, Oregon and Washington, respectively. 

“The arm talent in Tennessee’s quarterback room is unrivaled,” Chadwick wrote. “Sixth-year senior Joe Milton III takes over from Hendon Hooker and has the strongest arm in the country. Among FBS quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks in 2022, Milton led them all with an 11.1% big-time throw rate. 

“The Volunteers also bring in a top-10 overall recruit in Nico Iamaleava, who possesses the best physical tools of any quarterback in the 2023 class.”

USC is No. 1 with Caleb Williams, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, backed up by sophomore Miller Moss and five-star freshman Malachi Nelson. LSU brings back Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier and added Rickie Collins. Quinn Ewers is back at Texas, along with freshman Arch Manning. 

Ole Miss returns Jaxson Dart and added former Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders, along with freshman Austin Simmons. Oregon returns Bo Nix and has Ty Thompson, a former five-star recruit, as the backup. Michael Penix Jr., a former Tennessee commitment, is Washington’s star at quarterback, ahead of Dylan Morris. 

Joe Milton III last season: 971 yards, 10 TDs, 0 INTs

Milton last season passed for 971 yards and 10 touchdowns, completing 65 percent of his passes over nine games as Tennessee’s No. 2 quarterback. He started in Tennessee’s 56-0 win in the regular-season finale at Vanderbilt, then threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-14 win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl and was named the bowl game’s MVP.

Milton and Iamaleava were ranked in the third tier of ESPN’s ranking of all Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks back in May. ESPN’s David Hale used more than 20 tiers to rank all 133 FBS situations. 

“There are questions about Milton after false starts at both Michigan and Tennessee when initially named the starter,” Hale wrote of the Tennessee quarterback situation in Tier 3, “but in limited time last year he averaged nearly 12 yards per pass with 10 touchdowns and no picks, beat Clemson in a bowl game and can throw a football farther than the average EV can travel without recharging.

“More important than Milton’s ridiculous arm strength, however, is the Josh Heupel system. In seven years as a coordinator or head coach, his primary starting QBs have averaged 3,300 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and six picks per season.”

Milton won the open quarterback competition before the 2021 season, when Heupel and his staff was newly hired at Tennessee. But Milton’s ankle injury in Week 2 against Pitt opened the door for Heupel, who took over the job and never let go.

“He’s continued to grow as a man and as a leader,” Josh Heupel said in May during an appearance on Josh & Swain. “(He) continued to refine himself on the football field. I thought he was extremely efficient and effective inside of the pocket. Had great bounce. Eye discipline was really solid. Extremely accurate with the football during the course of our spring practice.” 

Nico Iamaleava: On3’s No. 1 overall prospect in 2023 recruiting class

Iamaleava is expected to backup Milton after being the headliner in Tennessee’s 2023 recruiting class. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound Iamaleava, a five-star recruit of Long Beach, Calif., was the No. 1-ranked prospect in the On3 rankings.

“He’s handled himself in a very mature way,” Heupel said of Iamaleava. “It’s really hard to be 18 years old and on a college campus with the type of fanfare he has. He’s handled it in a really good way. His teammates absolutely love him. He’s continued to grow throughout the course of spring ball in his understanding of what we’re doing. 

“Day 1, the game was moving really fast for him. It continues to slow down every single day. He’s been resilient. And after a bad play, or maybe not his best practice, responding the right way and coming back the next play or the next day. I love his energy and his effort in trying to really be a man that really masters his craft at the quarterback position.”