Joey Aguilar is taking full advantage of the unexpected NFL life raft Tennessee gave him

There's no question that former Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has become incredibly easy to root for. After spending one unforgettable season with the Vols, Aguilar has been given a chance with the Jacksonville Jaguars to show what he's made of, and thus far in the preseason, the rookie signal-caller is taking advantage of things.

The word out of Jacksonville is that Aguilar continues to impress the coaching staff, with head coach Liam Coen liking what he's seeing out of the former UT standout. In the Jags' preseason win over the Saints, Aguilar saw limited action, completing his lone pass attempt.

He made it count, though, firing a deep ball downfield that resulted in a 43-yard gain. Obviously, this isn't enough to say that Aguilar deserves a roster spot or anything, but it's telling that he's turning Coen's head. Despite being a UDFA, Aguilar is essentially doing what he did at Tennessee: make the most of his chances when everyone has been ready to write him off.

Joey Aguilar won't go down without a fight in trying to make the Jaguars' roster

Before he joined Tennessee, not many people knew about Aguilar or his game. That all changed in 2025 after Nico Iamaleava decided to enter the transfer portal, and eventually sign with UCLA. This impacted Aguilar in a negative way, as he had actually previously signed with the Bruins to take over as the starting quarterback after transferring from Appalachian State.

With Iamaleava moving to Westwood, it opened the door for Aguilar to look for a new home, and Josh Heupel came calling. Aguilar seemed like a last-minute fit for the Vols, with Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre pushing for the starting job too.

In the end, Aguilar won the job and tossed for 3,565 yards and 24 touchdowns. While Tennessee didn't make it back to the College Football Playoff, Aguilar won over countless hearts because of his brilliant play, especially in the near-upset against Georgia at Neyland Stadium. He has since taken his game to the next level, hoping to be on the 53-man roster in Jacksonville by the time Week 1 rolls around.

That won't be easy, as Carter Bradley and Nick Mullens are also pushing to be Trevor Lawrence's backup. From our chair, Mullens hasn't done enough to prove he deserves a roster spot, so this could end up being a battle between Bradley and Aguilar, whom Coen has been quite pleased with. In the worst-case scenario, maybe Aguilar signs to the practice squad and is elevated each week to be the emergency QB3? It'd be something he'd surely be happy with.

And at the same time, it's something that probably would have never been an option for him in the first place if Aguilar didn't make the move to SEC country. Iamaleava leaving town helped make that happen for Aguilar, and the rest has been history. He and Tennessee were a short-term marriage, but the memories provided will stick with the fanbase for a long time. With that, everyone is rooting for Aguilar to keep silencing the haters by sticking around in Jacksonville. The good thing here is that he is firmly putting himself in a position to make that happen.

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