Everything about the way Nico Iamaleava’s time at Tennessee ended and how he wound up at UCLA was a mess. Honestly, mess probably isn’t the best way to describe it, but all the words that would better describe the situation are typically frowned upon in polite company — so, we’ll stick with mess.
It was a situation that exposed everything wrong with the current landscape of college football, where demands and dollars are rampant but regulations and common sense remain in short supply.
I have no idea when that will no longer be the case. As a fan of the sport, I hope that if anything positive comes out of the entire situation, it’s that it serves as an impetus to get things figured the freak (polite company!) out.
But, also, as a fan of the sport who sometimes just wants to concentrate on football, can we talk about what Iamaleava leaving Tennessee for UCLA means for the Bruins? UCLA read that last paragraph and thought, “I can think of something else positive that’s come out of this: We’ve gone from a giant shrug emoji at QB to being in one of the better spots in the Big Ten.”
It’s true. There’s no denying the Big Ten has had a strong few years; it’s won two national titles and last year got four teams into the first 12-team College Football Playoff. What hasn’t been discussed much yet, though, is that while 2024 was a year of transition for the league as it added four new schools from the late Pac-12, the 2025 season is one of transition at the quarterback position in the league. As things currently sit, only six of the 18 schools in the league have a returning starter in the league, and one of them — USC’s Jordan Maiava — only started the latter portion of the 2024 season.
Three of the four Big Ten teams to make the CFP — Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana) will have a new starting QB — and two of them haven’t even decided upon who that will be yet.
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A week ago, UCLA was one of the teams without a clear answer at the QB spot. Joey Aguilar had transferred in from Appalachian State and was considered the favorite to win the gig, but it was fair to wonder how he’d adjust to life in a far more difficult league than the Sun Belt. Now, the Bruins have Iamaleava, who may not have lived up to the expectations in Knoxville (though Tennessee did reach the playoffs) but is still young and extremely talented. As for Aguilar, he’s back in the transfer portal.
Now that Nico is in Westwood, let’s break the conference down into tiers at the QB position as the league goes through this transitional period.
Returning starter
Drew Allar, Penn State; Luke Altmyer, Illinois; Aidan Chiles, Michigan State; Athan Kaliakmanis, Rutgers; Jordan Maiava, USC; Dylan Raiola, Nebraska
As you can see while reading through the list, not all returning starters are built the same. While Drew Allar has his faults and needs to perform better against elite competition, Penn State feels pretty good about his return. The same can be said of Illinos’ Luke Altmyer, who is preparing for his third season as the starter in Champaign, which is quite the rarity these days.
Athan Kaliakmanis was not spectacular, but he was solid and certainly an upgrade for Rutgers last season. Perhaps a “second-year bump” is in play. Nebraska certainly hopes that’s the case for Dylan Raiola, who showed plenty of flashes last year as a freshman but also looked like a freshman at times.
The fact USC hasn’t been active in the portal this offseason is likely a testament to how the staff feels about Maiava, who replaced Miller Moss as starter last season. Meanwhile, in East Lansing, Michigan State fans are crossing their fingers Aidan Chiles can figure it out in his second season and cut down on the mistakes.
New starter: Transfer edition
Billy Edwards, Wisconsin; Mark Gronowski, Iowa; Nico Iamaleava, UCLA; Fernando Mendoza, Indiana; Preston Stone, Northwestern
Here’s an interesting thought exercise. If you were to rank these transfers as most likely to make an All-Big Ten Team in 2025, what order would you put them in? All five enter situations with question marks about the weapons they have to work with, which is why I lean toward Nico because of his natural talent.
That said, Billy Edwards comes with Big Ten experience as a Terp last year, and Preston Stone will turn 24 in October. Mark Gronowski was outstanding at South Dakota State and won with the Jackrabbits. He’ll also turn 24 in October.
Finally, Fernando Mendoza had a strong season with Cal last year and is already getting some NFL Draft buzz should he continue to develop in Bloomington.
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New starter: Non-transfer edition
Drake Lindsey, Minnesota; Demond Williams, Washington
Guys who weren’t starters last season sticking around to inherit the starting role? What is this? 2014?
OK, so technically, Williams started Washington’s bowl game, but it was his only start last season, even if he did play 297 snaps overall. There’s a lot of positive buzz about Williams coming from Seattle, and for good reason. He showed ability as a true dual-threat option when given the chance, and not in the “look at him run, now let’s just hope he can hit the broad side of a barn with his passing.” Williams completed 78.1% of his pass attempts last year, averaging 9.0 yards per attempt.
As for Lindsey, I’m proclaiming the 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman as Minnesota’s starter because he’s currently the only scholarship quarterback on the roster. I’d expect that to change with the transfer portal currently open and guys looking for an opportunity, but considering Zach Pyron transferred to Minnesota over the winter only to leave this spring, it certainly looks like Lindsey’s job to lose at the moment.
High-profile QB battles
Mikey Keene/Bryce Underwood, Michigan; Dante Moore/Austin Novosad, Oregon; Julian Sayin/Lincoln Keinholz/Tavian St. Clair, Ohio State
My gut tells me two of these aren’t actual QB battles, and the third probably isn’t, either. My belief is that Julian Sayin and Dante Moore will be the starters at Ohio State and Oregon, respectively, but for transfer portal reasons, it’s in the best interests of Ryan Day and Dan Lanning to keep the competitions open for as long as possible. Both Sayin and Moore were five-star prospects out of high school, but Moore is the only one with experience, appearing in nine games with 213 pass attempts as a freshman at UCLA in 2023. Sayin threw 12 passes last year while preserving his redshirt with the Buckeyes.
Both will enter great positions to be in: good teams full of talent.
The most interesting battle here is at Michigan. Mikey Keene is the experienced transfer option from Fresno State, and Bryce Underwood is the All-World Potential Super Freak option. Underwood ended Michigan’s spring game with an 88-yard touchdown pass on a flea flicker to get the Wolverine faithful fully hyped, but I suspect Keene will begin the year as starter (Michigan has an early season road trip to Oklahoma) with Underwood worked in slowly. If he takes the reins and balls out, that’s a good problem for Michigan to have.
Low-profile QB battles
Justyn Martin/Malik Washington, Maryland; Malachi Singleton/Evans Chuba/Bennett Meredith/Ryan Browne/You?, Purdue
It’s ironic that the addition of Nico Iamaleava to UCLA’s QB room birthed this story on the Big Ten’s quarterbacks in 2025, and two of those possible starters are transfers from UCLA. Maybe Joey Aguilar will transfer to Minnesota and we’ll have three!
Anyway, all the talk coming out of Maryland on Justyn Martin has been positive, but there are positive reviews of four-star freshman Malik Washington, too. I’d put money on Martin winning the gig heading into the fall, but this appears to be a real-life competition.
As for Purdue, who truly knows? The competition was wide open to start the offseason when Ryan Browne left for North Carolina, but now he’s returning after the Tar Heels added Gio Lopez from South Alabama. There’s no way to know as of now who will take the first snaps against Ball State, but if we were doing a true ranking of the conference’s starting QBs this season, the winner of this competition would hold the 18th spot until proven otherwise.
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