Analyst Takes Shot at UCLA's Nico Iamaleava

Criticized for his fallout with Tennessee after last season, UCLA transfer quarterback Nico Iamaleava is still taking shade from people around the college football world.

This time it came from McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning and ESPN's Always College Football host Greg McElroy who slighted the former five-star quarterback when reacting to Tennessee's spot in ESPN's updated FPI rankings.

The Volunteers were ranked 10th on the list after finishing last season 10-3 (6-2) and losing in the first round of the College Football Playoff to Ohio State. They were led by Iamaleava all season.

The fallout began when a NIL dispute caused Iamaleava to enter the transfer portal and eventually commit to UCLA and put an inexplicable dent in his public perception.

McElroy, a former Alabama quarterback, reacted to Tennessee's ranking by throwing a shot at the Bruins' quarterback.

"They might have actually just accounted for the fact that Nico wasn't good," McElroy said.

Now, this was a reaction to the fact that the Volunteers were ranked within the top 10, which McElroy disagrees with. But the comment was a slight on their former quarterback nonetheless.

Iamaleava's criticism has mostly been as a result of his off-the-field circumstances rather than his actual production in uniform. The redshirt freshman had a pretty remarkable debut season by SEC standards.

He finished last season throwing 2,616 yards for 19 touchdowns and five interceptions. The numbers aren't huge, but they are efficient and pretty good considering that it was his first season in the best conference in the nation and he led the team to wins over Alabama, Oklahoma and Florida.

McElroy projected UCLA's season on his ESPN show recently, analyzing their 5.5 wins line ahead of the season. The former quarterback turned analyst saw a path for the Bruins to hit the over mark.

He listed week three and five against New Mexico and Northwestern as automatic wins and games against Penn State, Indiana, Ohio State and USC as automatic losses, leaving their remaining matchups against Utah, UNLV, Michigan State, Maryland, Nebraska and Washington as "toss-ups."

McElroy may be criminally underrating Iamaleava and his ability to turn UCLA into a respectable program. Regardless, one thing is undeniable -- Iamaleava's trajectory is promising.