Tennessee’s Milton to miss out on bowl, enter NFL draft

• Chris Low, ESPN Senior WriterDec 27, 2023, 12:19 PM ET

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  • College football reporter
  • Joined ESPN.com in 2007
  • Graduate of the University of Tennessee

The Nico Iamaleava age is set to start at Tennessee in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, as beginning quarterback Joe Milton III has pulled out of the Monday match with Iowa.Milton, a fifth-year senior, revealed Wednesday on social media that he was skipping the game to start preparing for the NFL draft and thanked his coaches, teammates and fans.”Thanks Vol Country for everything.

JoJo out,”Milton published, including that he would remain in Orlando, Florida, supporting the group this week.ESPN’s Mel Kiper ranks Milton as the 10th-best quarterback in the 2024 NFL draft. This will be Iamaleava’s first meaningful action for the Vols after he played in four games this season in mop-up task. The 6-6, 206-pound Iamaleava was ranked as the No. 4 pocket passer nationally by ESPN out of Long Beach, California. He has been on school for a year after getting here as an early enrollee and participating in practice for the Orange Bowl last December. “Guys are excited to get an opportunity to play with Nico,” coach Josh Heupel said.” They value Joe, obviously, for everything that he’s done.

He’s been a terrific colleague to everybody inside of that locker room. He’s been an excellent colleague to Nico as well.”Iamaleava is still qualified for a redshirt season. The bowl game does not count against the redshirt minimum of four games.Milton closes out his college career after three seasons at Tennessee. He was the backup to Hendon Hooker for 2 seasons before actioning in as the starter this year. He passed for 2,813 backyards with 20 goals and five interceptions in leading the Vols to an 8-4 record. Milton began his profession at Michigan before moving to Tennessee.” Playing inside Club Neyland was amazing -the energy, the noise and especially Going through the T,” Milton stated in his Instagram post.”I’m going to miss everything. “Tennessee fans have been eager to see Iamaleava in significant action since he revealed he was signing with the Vols. Heupel has stated that Iamaleava’s arm strength permits him to make every toss and that his feel inside the pocket is similarly outstanding. Iamaleava was likewise an outstanding volleyball player in high school and has the athleticism to extend plays with his legs. “I said it to the guys earlier, it’s important whenever you have a young player– and I don’t care what position he’s playing– that the other 10 guys around him dip into an actually high level and do the common things truly consistently to enable

that guy to operate and run at the level that he can,”Heupel said about the expectations for Iamaleava.”Listen, this game’s never ever ideal. We don’t anticipate Nico to go out and play ideal. We anticipate him to reset and provide our playmakers a chance to go make plays. “