Is this the year that Nico Iamaleava’s talents translate to on-field brilliance? The UCLA Bruins certainly hope so. UCLA’s offense will need strong play from Iamaleava to have a chance in the stacked Big Ten Conference.
Iamaleava was solid for the Bruins in 2025 but it didn’t stop the team from going 3-9 and bringing in head coach Bob Chesney to reshape the program after a futile DeShaun Foster era.
College football insider Todd McShay sees the talent in Iamaleava, and McShay believes that Chesney might be just the guy to find consistency in Iamaleava’s game.
“Iamaleava is a gazelle with a rocket launcher,” McShay said. “He’s in this situation with the skillset that is so special and so dynamic but needs, so desperately, this stability that Chesney’s bringing in with him.”
The skills are easy to see. Iamaleava stands at 6’6”, rushed for over 500 yards and has the arm strength to make any throw on the field. The issue has been showing down-to-down consistency and lifting an offense to new heights. After leaving Tennessee last year, Iamaleava put up 1,928 passing yards and 17 total touchdowns in 11 games.
“If he soaks that in and takes the next step as a third-year starter,” McShay said of Iamaleava. “It could be the same path we’re envisioning for Brendan Sorsby if he were playing at Texas Tech.”
UCLA will just have to hope that Iamaleava and Sorsby don’t have the same vices, because Chesney and the Bruins will need Iamaleava on the field to be able to put together a winning season in 2026.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: College football insider views Nico Iamaleava as a potential breakout
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire | USA TODAY Network
