UCLA is trying to hype up Nico Iamaleava in the most comical way possible

Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava was named to the Johnny Unitas watch list and his new school, UCLA, wanted to hype it up a little. No issues there, any good trophy hunt starts with a strong promotional campaign.

But in the process of hyping Iamaleava up, I think UCLA took it a little too far. 

The numbers don't lie...and they don't look good either

A master of the deep ball? Not according to Pro Football Focus. Iamaleava did not grade out well as a deep-ball thrower. He completed just 42 percent of his passes that went over 20-yards last season and that number dropped to 34 percent when facing Power 4 teams. So, as the competition got better, Iamaleave got more inaccurate.

Yes, Iamaleava had six 50-plus completions last season. Let's examine those six completions.

* 59 yards to Donte Thornton against UT-Chattanooga
* 53 yards to Criis Brazzell II against Kent State
* 66 yards to Thornton against Oklahoma 
* 55 yards to Thornton against Alabama
* 73 yards to Thornton against Mississippi State
* 86 yards to Thornton against Vanderbilt 

The combined record of the five teams: 30-45.

(Side note: This is a good reminder that Donte Thornton was a straight up beast)

There's no doubt that Iamaleava has an arm. His biggest issues last season were with the gross number of overthrows on deep shots where the receiver had gained some separation. So, the arm talent is undeniable and Iamaleava is just a sophomore, and he can get better. Maybe he will, but the early sample size isn't promising. 

Joey Aguilar has had success going deep

The Josh Heupel offense is built for a "master of the deep ball". The whole scheme is designed to generate mismatches that allow the quarterback to take deep shots. The deep passes were there for Iamaleava every week and he just couldn't hit them. 

Part of the reason why I believe Tennessee decided to go with Joey Aguilar as the starter is because of his ability and experience at hitting the deep shots. If he can hit around 50% of these balls over 20 yards, it's going to make a difference on the scoreboard and what Aguilar might lack a little in arm talent to Iamaleava, he can make up for with better ball placement.