Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has made an immediate impact since winning the Vols’ starting job before the 2025 season. The former App State quarterback got a late jump on things after transferring in from UCLA during the spring window, but Aguilar’s veteran prowess put him in a position to not only win the job during fall training camp but succeed in leading the up-tempo Tennessee offense.
Through the first five games, Aguilar leads the SEC in passing yards and is tied for the lead in passing touchdowns. He’s been poised in running Tennessee’s offense, has been calm under pressure, and, most importantly, has put the explosive passing play back in the Vols’ bag of tricks.
Aguilar’s not necessarily considered a factor in the midseason Heisman race, but that hasn’t mattered. He’s put life and excitement into the Vols’ passing game en route to a 4-1 start for the Volunteers.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly recently ranked every starting Power 4 quarterback after the first month of the season. Aguilar lands at No. 17 on his list.
“After a nearly flawless start, Aguilar’s game has sprung some leaks of late — he has thrown five interceptions in his past three games and took a pair of sacks against Mississippi State. Still, he has brought the explosiveness back to the Tennessee offense, averaging 14.3 yards per completion while taking only three sacks all season. Not bad for a guy on his third school (and third offense) in 12 months,” Connelly writes.
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Aguilar is the sixth highest-ranked quarterback from the SEC in the rankings, behind No. 2 Diego Pavia, No. 3 Trinidad Chambliss, No. 8 Ty Simpson, No. 12 John Mateer, and No. 14 Taylen Green.
He does sit ahead of several notable quarterbacks across the college football landscape, though, including Miami’s Carson beck at No. 18, Georgia’s Gunner Stockton at No. 20, TCU’s Josh Hoover at No. 23, Iowa State’s Rocco Becht at No. 24, Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed at No. 26, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers at No. 27, and Georgia Tech’s Haynes King at No. 29.
What’s intriguing about Aguilar is that he still has time to develop with the Tennessee offense. Five games is a lot of sample time, but there’s still plenty more opportunities ahead (against better competition) for the California native to sharpen his skills. Aguilar has also been helped out by a receiving core that involves Chris Brazzell, who has been one of the best surprises across the entire college football landscape so far.
Aguilar and the Vols have an open date this weekend before returning to SEC play against Arkansas in Neyland Stadium. Aguilar wasn’t on the Tennessee squad that fell to the Razorbacks in an upset bid last season, but he’ll be the key to the Vols’ quest for revenge next Saturday.
Check out Bill Connelly’s full quarterback rankings for ESPN here.
