Put This Heisman Darkhorse On Your Radar While It's Still Early

Tennessee fans, consider this my mea culpa to all of you.

"I was wrong, you were right.

I'm stupid, you're smart.

You're the best, I'm the worst."

You know the rest!

I was very critical of the Volunteers' offensive operation heading into the season, so much so that I picked them to get upset by Syracuse.

Did I mention I'm stupid?

One of my main concerns was how new quarterback addition Joey Aguilar would perform after moving to a Power 4 conference.

While the Vols haven't entered SEC play yet, Aguilar has looked the part, particularly in week one as he shredded a Syracuse secondary coached by one of the best defensive back tutors in the country, Fran Brown.

A week later, albeit against much softer competition, Aguilar put up the nation's highest PFF rating for a quarterback with a stellar 94.2 grade.

It's hard to be that efficient against air, let alone in an actual game, so you have to give credit where it is due here.

Now comes the big test.

The Vols will be welcoming the vaunted Georgia Bulldogs to Neyland Stadium this Saturday, as the competition level will spike for Tennessee.

This might be the toughest test Rocky Top will face all year, as Kirby Smart and company have clamped down on Josh Heupel's high-powered attack since the offensive guru arrived in Knoxville five seasons ago. 

If you are the betting type, however, you might want to sprinkle some money (responsibly, of course) on a future for Joey Aguilar to win the Heisman.

You have to do a bit of scrolling on Fan Duel's website to find the Tennessee gunslinger down at +3500, but if the Vols take down a stout but beatable Bulldogs squad, Heisman voters will have no choice but to pay attention to Aguilar the rest of this season.

Heupel's system is tailor-made for quarterbacks who are accurate and willing to throw the deep ball, and Aguilar has shown an uncanny comfortability with regard to both.

Those deep shots haven't gone away the last few years, it's just that Heupel may have finally found a quarterback that can hit them with the same consistency as Hendon Hooker did in 2022.

If that is indeed the case, it could be a scary year for SEC defenses having to play the Vols.

I'm sorry for all the negativity in the offseason, Rocky Top.

But when Joey Aguilar hoists the Heisman trophy in Manhattan three months from now, just know this bitter Gator fan had it first!

You're welcome.