Former Tennessee football quarterback Nico Iamaleava was tabbed to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List this week. He is one of 58 quarterbacks across the nation to be placed on the list. The award annually recognizes the top senior or upperclassman quarterback set to graduate with their class.
When UCLA wrote up the press release, it named Iamaleava a ‘master of the deep ball,’ which sparked a skeptical eye from some Tennessee fans. The stat that the Bruins’ release pointed to as the reasoning was Iamaleava ranking second in the SEC a year ago in 50-plus-yard completions at six.
Iamaleava’s longest completion of the year was an 86-yard touchdown toss to Dont’e Thornton Jr. against Vanderbilt. However, the throw only went 16 yards through the air before Thornton put on the burners to leave the defense in the dust.
Against Mississippi State, Iamaleava hit Thornton for a 73-yard touchdown strike. This ball traveled about 45 yards through the air. Although it was decently underthrown, it was still enough for Thornton to make the adjustment and score.
The next longest toss was also to Thornton. Iamaleava hit him on a 66-yard touchdown throw that was a laser on the money. The ball traveled only about 23 yards before being caught, but it was a great throw from now UCLA signal caller.
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Against UT Chattanooga, Iamaleava again hit Thornton for a big play. In the season-opener, he dropped a 59-yard completion into the basket, although it wasn’t a touchdown. While it wasn’t against strong competition, it was a solid throw.
In possibly his best throw of the season, Iamaleava hit, you guessed it, Thornton in the win over Alabama. The 55-yard completion set up a touchdown rush from Dylan Sampson on the following play to take the lead. Iamaleava, by design, leaked to his right and left the pocket before delivering a dart to Thornton for the big gain.
His only other 50+ yard completion was against Kent State. He hit Chris Brazzell II for a 53-yard touchdown. While again, Kent State is far from good competition, it was a solid throw to put up six points.
Iamaleava did have more opportunities to add to this stat, though. Tennessee fans were quick to point out the fair number of missed throws he had while wearing orange in 2024.
