{"id":635148,"date":"2026-05-10T17:57:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T17:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/635148\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T17:57:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T17:57:23","slug":"college-football-insider-thinks-this-quarterback-will-start-for-tennessee-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/635148\/","title":{"rendered":"College Football Insider Thinks This Quarterback Will Start For Tennessee in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\"kenneth<\/a>Tennessee scores against Arkansas at Neyland Stadium, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. Cole Moore\/RTI<\/p>\n

There are multiple pivotal questions Tennessee football needs to answer this upcoming season, but perhaps none are more critical than the battle for starting quarterback. The Vols are deciding between true freshman Faizon Brandon, redshirt-freshman George MacIntyre and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub.<\/p>\n

Josh Heupel is adamant that the competition is open between the three and will roll into fall camp. He wants to see how they respond to the spring slate over the summer and what improvements they make as the countdown to the start of the season intensifies.<\/p>\n

However, as we enter the summer portion of the offseason, college sports insider for OutKick, Trey Wallace<\/a>, made his pick. During an appearance on The Drive on FanRun<\/a>, he made the prediction that it\u2019ll be the five-star true freshman, Brandon, taking over the offense.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think right now, to be honest with you, I think it\u2019s Faizon at quarterback for Tennessee in the fall,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cFrom what I\u2019ve heard, they were immensely surprised at his body type, as well, once he got on campus, and then where we\u2019re at even to this week. Now think about what that\u2019s going to look like in three months when fall camp comes around.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not trying to speak for people over there, but I\u2019ve just heard that a little more upside to Faizon than there is MacIntyre. And MacIntyre is going to have to pull off a Hail Mary, in my opinion, because he\u2019s also had a year and a half more than Faizon to build up camaraderie with his teammates. I\u2019ve been told, and again, I\u2019m not trying to diminish MacIntyre, but what I am saying is if he didn\u2019t have that bad boy locked up or at least leaning in your favor coming out of spring with all the experience you\u2019ve had in Knoxville, that is a problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, we\u2019ll see where it goes. I think the good part about it is the communication that Halzle had with Faizon before he even arrived on campus and already had the playbook. So it\u2019s not as if he came in and was like, \u2018Okay, I got to learn this on day one.\u2019 He had that, essentially, a year before he even got on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest with you, I think it\u2019s Faizon at quarterback for Tennessee\u201d \u2013 @TreyWallace<\/a> breaking down Vols Football in 2026<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfbhttps:\/\/t.co\/XjlRCfMqKk<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cOP8iyyW2Y<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 FOX Sports Knoxville (@FOXSportsKnox) May 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

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Brandon just completed spring camp and, by all accounts, had a successful first stint going through practices as a college football player. The slate concluded with the annual Orange & White Game, in which head coach Josh Heupel kept things mostly vanilla in his first public showing.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, Faizon\u2019s a great player,\u201d Heupel said about Brandon on signing day \u201cWe had an opportunity to watch him on the basketball court, extremely explosive, great touch, had great presence and bodies in motion. You see that on the football tape, obviously as well. He\u2019s played at an elite level for a long time. His body continued to develop. He\u2019s got a great mind. He\u2019s extremely quick-minded.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou combine all those factors, really excited about having him in the quarterback room and competing next fall. Anytime you\u2019re able to get a quarterback that\u2019s at that level and is made of the right things, he\u2019s able to develop relationships with guys and help attract them. And he certainly did that in this recruiting class, really on both sides of the football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brandon was a five-star prospect, according to 247<\/a>. He spent a good bit of the cycle as the No. 1 overall recruit in the class, but fell to No. 2 in the recruiting service\u2019s final update. He is the No. 2 quarterback, behind Houston commit Keisean Henderson, and the top-ranked player out of North Carolina.<\/p>\n

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