Tennessee Vols fall camp preview: quarterbacks

Fall camp is underway at the University of Tennessee, as the Vols are back on the practice field on Wednesday and preparing for the 2024 season.  Across the roster, there will be fierce positional battles as players make their case for starting roles this fall.

One area where that won't be the case, at least for the starting job, is at the quarterback spot.  Nico Iamaleava, a preseason Maxwell Award watchlist nominee , has the starting job locked down.  However, the all-important backup job is up for grabs, and a number of players are in play for that role.

Here's a look at the quarterback position heading into the season.

The starter - Nico Iamaleava

Iamaleava has the job cemented, as everyone inside and outside of Knoxville knows.  The question with him is how far can he take this team in his first season as the team's starting quarterback?

Iamaleava showed in his first career start in the Citrus Bowl that he's going to be patient as he learns to play the position.  He refused to force the ball and was willing to take off and use his legs where necessary - something former starter Joe Milton was less willing to do despite his superior athleticism.

That type of maturity on the field matches his words this week at the start of camp, when Nico spoke with the media and sounded like a season veteran, something his coaches talked about last year as far as his preparation .

He'll make some mistakes.  Every young player has and will.  However, he seems like the type of player who will learn from them quicker than most and move on.  The Vols appear to be in good hands with their starter.

The backups - Gaston Moore and Jake Merklinger

Moore enters his redshirt senior year as the elder statesman of the QB room, and that gives him an edge as far as being the next guy up.  Offensive coordinator Joey Halzle talked this week about how Moore knows the offense inside and out, having been in the system as long as he has.

"He's a guy that has been within the system for five years," Halzle said of Moore on Tuesday.  "He's a guy that knows it inside and out, from the run game, to the RPO game, to the shot game, to anything that we're doing he can operate efficiently with the tempo. He's a huge asset to us, which is when he got in the portal at UCF why we knew we wanted to bring him here. He gives that stability, that understanding, and he is a better athlete than people give him credit for. Arm strength-wise, he can make every throw on the field. The guy can drive the football. You guys saw it in the spring game, he is driving a 40 to 50-yard posts down the field right there. Athletically, he can handle it, but mentally, the guy is extremely sharp and understands everything we're trying to accomplish.

As such, that would seem to give the edge for the first player off the bench to Moore if Nico were to suffer an injury.

However, Merklinger, a true freshman , has the competitive attitude and playmaking ability to perhaps have a higher upside than Moore.  Eventually.  The true freshman from Savannah, GA will be one to keep an eye on in fall camp to see if he can wow enough to show that potential outweighs experience.

For now, my bet is on the latter.

The rest - Navy Shuler and Ryan Damron

Shuler and Damron are very likely on the outside looking in for the third QB spot, as the difference between this duo and the aforementioned one is substantial.  Neither should see the field in a significant moment unless the group becomes completely decimated by injury.

Shuler, the son of Tennessee Vols great Heath Shuler, enters his fifth and final season with the Vols.  He appeared briefly at the end of games against Ball State and UConn over the last two seasons.

Damron is a redshirt freshman from Paris, Tennessee (Henry County High School).  He is a walk on, choosing to go to Tennessee without a scholarship over offers from Kentucky, MTSU, and Eastern Kentucky, and ETSU.

Related: Tennessee Vols teammates have a hilarious exchange while battling each other in College Football 25