Breaking news: Tennessee Vols confirm the signing of another top star…

Tennessee HC Josh Heupel confirms suspicion about potential addition of a transfer QB

The Tennessee Vols will have a lot of talent in their quarterback room entering the 2024 season, but they won’t have much depth or experience.

Nico Iamaleava, a former five-star recruit who will be a redshirt freshman next fall, will be the Vols’ starting quarterback in 2024.

Four-star true freshman Jake Merklinger, along with walk-ons Gaston Moore and Navy Shuler, will serve as the backups to Nico.

Moore and Shuler are both former three-star recruits.

Tennessee would like to have a veteran quarterback with some significant playing experience in the room, but they haven’t been able to find a player that fits that criteria due to the presence of the extremely talented Iamaleava.

Heupel confirmed on Wednesday during his signing day press conference that having Nico on the roster has made it more difficult to land a quarterback in the portal.

“I think quarterback is one of the positions, you look across the country, it’s hard to have the depth at that position that you historically may have had,” explained Heupel. “We’re going to continue to always evaluate. That’s true at quarterback, but it’s true at every position here as we go through January. “

“Yes sir, it is,” added Heupel when a reporter asked if the presence of Nico makes it difficult to recruit quarterbacks in the portal.

I think most folks assumed this was the case, but it’s the first time that Heupel’s publicly acknowledged the reason it’s been so difficult for the Vols to build quarterback depth over the last year.

It’s a testament to the respect that players around the nation have for Nico’s abilities — other quarterbacks clearly view him as an elite talent.

But it also puts Tennessee’s quarterback room in a tough spot when it comes to depth.

Of course, I’m sure Heupel would much rather have an elite quarterback like Nico than a deep quarterback room that might not have the same amount of talent.

The lack of depth is a problem for the Vols, but it’s a manageable problem when you have one of the most talented quarterbacks in the nation on the roster.