Photo via Ryan Sylvia | RTI
As Sunday draws on, Tennessee football is yet to name a starting quarterback. The Vols are going to embark on a mock game week beginning Monday, before the actual first game week of the season gets underway. Still, Josh Heupel has kept things close to his chest.
However, plenty of buzz has followed a specific quarterback following the second scrimmage of the fall camp, with five-star freshman Faizon Brandon seemingly emerging as the leader over sophomore George MacIntyre. College football insider Chris Low, the co-host of the RTI Low-Down, backed up these claims on the most recent episode of the podcast.
Low said he ‘100%’ expects Brandon to be named the starter, he just isn’t sure when. He also offered that it wasn’t because MacIntyre played poorly, but that Brandon did enough to cement himself as the leader.
While it would be uncharted territory for Heupel to start a true freshman in the first game of the season and the first time UT would do so since 2004, rave reviews continue to roll in for Brandon. Low even noted that another SEC coach told him he thought Brandon was the best quarterback in the 2026 class, despite being ranked No. 3 by 247.
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Here’s what Low had to say on the latest episode of the RTI Low-Down:
“Ever since the spring ended, I think most people felt like, having talked to people around the program, that Faizon Brandon had really positioned himself well to be the starter. He’s only solidified that this preseason. I do 100% expect him to be the starter. I don’t know if Josh Heupel’s timeline, though, in announcing that will fall in line with ours or anybody else’s. I think he’ll announce it when he’s ready to announce it, how he wants to announce it, knowing Josh like I do.
“I think when you’re having quarterback competitions, Bob, a lot of time when one kid wins it, and again, I think Brandon has done enough to do that, the narrative or sometimes the notion is, well, the other kid played poorly. I don’t think that’s the case at all with George MacIntyre. I think, in fact, he’s played some of his better football this preseason and has made it a race. But, I don’t think, again, the people I trust, I don’t think there’s been much of a question at this point that Brandon gives them the best chance at this point with his playmaking ability, he’s more creative, he’s more explosive, just a guy that when things break down and he has to go off script, he’s the better option there.
“That’s not to say that at some point that George MacIntyre might not be able to help them. You rarely get through a season with just one quarterback. It might be a quarter, Bob, it might be two series if the quarterback gets banged up, it might be a half, it might be two games, but you better have two. I think when we hear from Josh officially, that’s pretty much what he’s going to say.
“But I’m looking forward to seeing what a kid as talented as Brandon can do in a real game. I talked to another coach at another SEC school this year. He told me he thought Brandon was the best quarterback in this class, the 2026 class, that they’ve seen. Probably the most complete package the way he throws the football, the way he’s able to move around and make plays, but boy, that’s a tough assignment for a freshman in any league, especially the SEC, to start from the get-go.
“Hasn’t happened for Tennessee since Brent Schaeffer in 2004, so more than 20 years ago, when he and Erik Ainge shared snaps that season that a true freshman right out of high school had started the first game for Tennessee.”