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'This team will remain a problem in the Southeastern Conference' — Greg McElroy pegs two crucial X-factors for Tennessee Vols to contend in 2025

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Craig Smith | Last updated Jul 22, 2025 10:57 AM ET

The Tennessee Volunteers have a number of questions heading into 2025, but none more so than on the offensive side of the ball.

Tennessee will be breaking in a new starter this fall with Nico Iamaleava off to UCLA. 4 of 5 starters on the offensive line are gone. Seven receivers from 2024 left in the transfer portal, are in the NFL, or ran out of eligibility. As such, the Vols' offense will look very, very different than what we saw last year.

ESPN college football commentator and analyst Greg McElroy sees two of those areas as being particularly crucial for Tennessee to have a repeat successful season in 2025. McElroy included Tennessee in a group of Tier 2 SEC teams: not national championship contenders, but contenders to make the College Football Playoff and be in the SEC race.

While he acknowledged some losses on the defensive side of the ball and the health of Jermod McCoy to start the season, McElroy claims that the Vols will be contenders again this season if they can fill their holes sufficiently on the offensive line and if Joey Aguilar exhibits the level of play that he showed in 2023.

"If they can adequately replace the pieces lost along the offensive line, and Joey Aguilar can look like he did in '23 as opposed to '24, this team will remain a problem in the Southeastern Conference," McElroy said.

Aguilar had a strong season for Appalachian State in 2023. He threw for 3757 yards with a 63.7% completion rate for 33 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He set an App State program record with 4002 total yards.

He took a sizeable step back in 2024, with 3003 passing yards (55.9%) completion rate with 23 touchdowns to 14 interceptions, the latter of which was the most in FBS.

The good news for Aguilar and Tennessee's offense is Heupel's system is conducive to putting its QBs in position to avoid turning the ball over. The proof has been in the pudding, as none of Heupel's QBs during his time in Knoxville have thrown more than 5 interceptions for a season. Aguilar has been a bit of a boom or bust player, so if those mistakes can get cut down, and he can look like the 2023 version, the big plays that Tennessee lacked at times in 2024 could come back this year.

Of course, Aguilar has to win the job first over Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre, so if he can't, throw this out the window. The starting QB battle will begin with fall camp, which gets underway on July 30.

Tennessee also added a lot of talent on the offensive line, with five-star OT David Sanders, Jr. joining transfers Sam Pendleton from Notre Dame and Wendell Moe from Arizona, two sought-after players in the portal. It's way too early to know what they will look like as a unit, but the potential is there based on individual talent.

There are a lot of unknowns for sure, but there's also a lot of potential across the roster for the Vols, which could result in a noteworthy season - one way or another.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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