ESPN ranks Nico Iamaleava as 58th-best Power 4 starting quarterback

Only a handful of Power 4 starting quarterbacks have had a worse start to the season than UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava, according to ESPN. Bill Connelly ranked all 64 starting quarterbacks in the power conferences with Iamaleava coming in at No. 58 overall. 

The only quarterbacks ranked behind Iamaleava were Stanford’s Ben Gulbranson, Wake Forest’s Robby Ashford, Florida’s DJ Lagway, Wisconsin’s Billy Edwards Jr. and Danny O’Neil, Syracuse’s Rickie Collins, West Virginia’s Nicco Marchiol, Jaylen Henderson and Kahlil Wilkins, Oklahoma State’s Zane Flores, North Carolina’s Gio Lopez, Northwestern’s Preston Stone and Kentucky’s Cutter Boley and Zach Calzada.

“Iamaleava was an unfinished product at Tennessee in 2024 — took too long to throw, too many sacks, too few big plays — but he has seen everything fall apart with a bad supporting cast at UCLA,” Connelly wrote. 

“He ranks 119th in yards per completion (9.7), 83rd in INT rate (2.4%) and 91st in sack rate (6.8%), and UCLA seems to start every game down 21-0.”

UCLA fired head coach, parted ways with OC after 0-4 start

UCLA is off to a 0-4 start with with a 43-10 loss to Utah, a 30-23 loss at UNLV, a 35-10 loss to New Mexico and a 17-14 loss at Northwestern. 

Whatever offensive production UCLA has been able to muster has come through Iamaleava, who is the team’s leading passer and rusher. Through his first four games he has 788 passing yards, 252 rushing yards and five total touchdowns, with a total QBR of 54.6.

Iamaleava was 11-for-22 with 136 yards, a touchdown and an interception against Utah, while rushing 13 times for 47 yards. He was sacked a season-high four times in the loss.

He was 29-for-41 for 255 yards, with a touchdown and an interception, at UNLV, then 22-for-34 for 217 yards with a touchdown and an interception against New Mexico. He ran 11 times for 56 yards and a touchdown at UNLV and had six carries for 33 yards against New Mexico.

On Saturday at Northwestern he was 19-for-27 for 180 yards and a touchdown and rushed 14 times for 65 yards. 

Nico Iamaleava left Tennessee for UCLA in April

Iamaleava entered the NCAA Transfer Portal in April. His signing with UCLA led quarterback Joey Aguilar — he had transferred to UCLA in December after two seasons at Appalachian State — to reenter the transfer portal and ultimately replace Iamaleava at Tennessee.

ESPN ranked Aguilar No. 17 on its list of Power 4 quarterbacks, with a Total QBR of 72.2 after throwing for 1,459 yards and totaling 15 touchdowns through his first five games with the Vols.

UCLA fired head coach DeShaun Foster after the loss to New Mexico and this week parted ways with first-year offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri. 

“Per SP+,” Connelly wrote, “the Bruins now have a 61% chance of finishing 0-12. Ouch.”