‘Sounds like they might have a gem’ – ESPN’s Greg McElroy drops positive comment on a Tennessee Vols quarterback
The Tennessee Vols haven’t settled on a starting quarterback yet, though the expectation is that UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar will eventually win the job. Aguilar, who is battling redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre for the starting job, has the edge when it comes to experience. And while he hasn’t run away […]
The Tennessee Vols haven’t settled on a starting quarterback yet, though the expectation is that UCLA transfer Joey Aguilar will eventually win the job.
Aguilar, who is battling redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger and true freshman George MacIntyre for the starting job, has the edge when it comes to experience. And while he hasn’t run away with the job during fall camp, he’s played well enough that he’s probably going to be the starter when the Vols open the season against Syracuse in a few weeks.
“At this point, I will be shocked if Joey Aguilar is not the starter for Syracuse,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price during an appearance on 104.5 The Zone on Tuesday. “Which is no great leap of faith, right? I mean, he’s been long thought to be the front-runner because of his experience. But I think he’s having a solid enough fall camp — even minus the scrimmage, because they do a lot of scrimmage work during the course of practice — to where you feel like he’s got a pretty good shot to be Tennessee starter against Syracuse.”
It may be Aguilar who starts the season-opener for Tennessee, but it’s MacIntyre who seems to be generating the most buzz during fall camp.
MacIntyre, a former four-star recruit from Nashville, isn’t considered a serious threat to win the job — mostly because he needs to add more weight. But he could force his way onto the field at some point in 2025.
ESPN’s Greg McElroy said this week on Always College Football that folks who have watched Tennessee practice believe the Vols may have a “gem” in MacIntyre.
“The one guy we have not talked a whole lot about is a guy named George MacIntyre, who has been running for the most part with the [second-team] and the [third-team],” said McElroy. “So it’s not like he’s getting live [first-team] reps all the time and he’s starting to show that [he’s] the guy. It’s not quite to that point yet.
“But if you talk to anybody that has watched Tennessee practice, if you talk to anybody that has watched Tennessee scrimmage, it sounds like they might have a gem in George MacIntyre. And while I don’t know if he’ll be the day one starter by any stretch, the fact that he’s in this competition tells you a lot about his makeup, how consistent he is, how accurate he is, and his comfort level right now operating Josh Heupel’s offense. He’s not the most physically mature guy just yet, but it sounds like the accuracy is something that is really surprising some folks and has been very, very impressive. So keep an eye on this. I still think it will be Aguilar (who starts). But the longer this competition goes, if it goes into the regular season, don’t be surprised if at some point this year you see the true freshman George MacIntyre. Because he’s been very, very impressive in fall camp up to this point.”
Tennessee could be in a situation where Aguilar is the guy to start the season and then MacIntyre gets an opportunity before the end of the season and never looks back.
After all, whoever wins this battle coming out of fall camp isn’t guaranteed to be the starter for the entire season. If the starter struggles, I think the Tennessee coaching staff will be quick to see what the other guys in the room can do on Saturdays.
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