Roughly four months removed from signing with the Arkansas football team, freshman quarterback Madden Iamaleava is already receiving exciting comparisons from offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.
Known as a play-caller guru and quarterback savant, Petrino has coached his fair share of talented signal-callers during his career. The most notable name is former Louisville Heisman winner and current NFL quarterback Lamar Jackson, who Iamaleava has a similar trait to as a freshman, according to Petrino.
"You know, Madden’s a special talent now," Petrino said Tuesday. "He can really get the ball out of his hands. He sees stuff and has a great, quick release. I know there’s times he drops back and he doesn’t know what the play is. But somebody pops open and he can stick it and put it right on their hands. The last guy that I coached that did that a lot as a true freshman was Lamar Jackson."
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A Top-250 four-star quarterback in the class of 2025, Iamaleava was a highly-regarded prospect out of Long Beach, California. The 6-foot-3, 191-pounder didn't fully play his senior season due to eligibility issues, but he completed 196-of-311 passes for 3,626 yards, 43 touchdowns and just four interceptions as a junior in 2023 for Warren High School.
"You know where you don’t see anything but all of a sudden they throw a post for a touchdown and everyone’s going, ‘Damn, how did he see that?’ That wasn’t even in his progression," Petrino said. "Now we do need to get him to know the plays. There’s no question about that. But that ability is something that is hard to coach. And his vision is just something that’s really good."
The younger brother of Tennessee starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava, Madden is stuck behind veteran returner Taylen Green on the depth chart, but don't rule the youngster out from making a push at the second team role with redshirt freshman KJ Jackson.
"I would say (Madden is) ahead of a lot of young guys that I have coached," Petrino said. "He works extremely hard at understanding the offense. He works hard at calling the play in the huddle. He takes a lot of pride in it. He gets mad at himself if he makes an error calling the play, or calling the motion or setting things in. He’s got a lot of internal pride in himself. His natural delivery makes coaching all about the X’s and the O’s.
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"You’re not having to change anything in his footwork or his release. That makes it a lot easier coaching him, I can tell you that, because now it’s all about executing the offense and seeing things and knowing what’s going on. I think he has a chance to be a really special player."
The Razorbacks have seven total spring practices remaining, including the April 19 Red-White Spring Game at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville. Stay tuned to our homepage for the latest news and notes.
