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Tennessee's Joey Aguilar slapped in the face with new ESPN SEC QB rankings

Vols fans aren't going to like this.
Braulio Perez
Braulio Perez

All for Tennessee

Sep 19, 2024; Boone, North Carolina, USA; Appalachian State Mountaineers quarterback Joey Aguilar (4) throws a warmup pass before the game against the South Alabama Jaguars at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images / Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

Although he's yet to officially be named the starting quarterback for the Tennessee football team, the expectation is that a big year is on the way for Joey Aguilar. The transfer signal-caller thought he was going to take over the offense for UCLA, but Nico Iamaleava ruined those plans.

Now, Aguilar has made the move from Westwood to Knoxville and he's hoping to silence the countless people who are doubting him ahead of next season. The team over at ESPN Baton Rouge has given him even more motivation to ball out this fall.

This week, they came out with new quarterback rankings for SEC programs. In a complete and total slap in the face, ESPN has Aguilar listed as the second-to-worst quarterback in the conference. Give us a break here:

ESPN Baton Rouge has given Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar extra motivation for next season

Yes, Aguilar is yet to play in an SEC game and he has spent the start of his career with App State. However, are we just going to forget that this kid is going to be coached by Josh Heupel, one of the best offensive minds in the college game?

Aguilar is a gunslinger and he put up some impressive numbers the past two seasons. The expectation was that he was going to flourish in the Big Ten suiting up for the UCLA Bruins, but Iamaleava transferring in changed everything.

Heupel decided to give Aguilar a shot and he's going to be ready to take full advantage of his opportunities. Last season, the 6-3, 220-pounder tossed for 3,003 yards and 23 touchdowns - though his 14 interceptions are a bit concerning.

Despite that, Heupel is (likely) going to put all of his trust in Aguilar to take the field come Week 1 against Syracuse and let the ball rip. It surely won't take long for us to look back on the ESPN Baton Rouge rankings and have a nice laugh. Aguilar is going to put up huge numbers for the Vols, book it.

Braulio Perez

Braulio Perez

Braulio Perez is an NCAA Content Director for FanSided, joining Minute Media in 2017 after 2.5 years at the Newark Star-Ledger as a high school sports reporter and 2.5 years at the Lynden Tribune as sports editor. While with the Lynden Tribune, Perez was named the Sports Writer of the Year in 2012 for his division by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. At the Star-Ledger, he also assisted in coverage of college football recruiting. Perez's focus has been on college football recruiting, high school sports, the NFL, NCAA and English Premier League. He is also a regular contributor for 247Sports' Cougfan.com.