After what happened this week, plenty of people are still in shock. We're of course talking about quarterback Shedeur Sanders falling all the way to the fifth round. Talent wasn't a question here. Reports stated Sanders had some rough interviews and coaches/GMs were left quite annoyed.
Sanders got drafted by the Browns, but his off-the-field demeanor and arrogance at times appeared to cause him to slip all the way to Day 3. His father's antics didn't help his cause either. Sound familiar for all of you Tennessee football fans?
While Nico Iamaleava has left Knoxville and signed with the UCLA Bruins, that doesn't mean that Vols fans are fully going to forget about him. At this point last year, analysts had Iamaleava projected to be a top first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Now, though, new mocks have arrived and he's nowhere to be seen.
Nico Iamaleava must learn from what happened to Shedeur Sanders
Iamaleava had everything going for him in Tennessee. He was set to make north of $2 million with the Vols in 2025 and continue to have the more than 100,000 people in his corner at Neyland Stadium whenever he took the field.
Now, though, he's going to play for a new offense closer to home in Los Angeles, doing so for a team that was one of the worst in the Big Ten last season on that side of the ball. But hey, this move was because the offensive scheme with UT didn't fit him properly for his NFL development...yeah right.
What's in the past is now in the past and Tennessee is going to move forward with Joey Aguilar as the team's new starting quarterback. Aguilar has a ton of potential too and he will be motivated to put on a show for UT after Iamaleava took his spot in Westwood.
Come this point next year, Iamaleava could enter the NFL Draft or if things don't go as planned, he could return for one more season with the Bruins. We're not rooting against this kid - please don't let that be the takeaway from this piece. However, Nico needs to take a lesson from Sanders, enjoy some humble pie and realize he must learn from this situation if he wants to avoid the same kind of path down the road.