There have been several reports over the last week that suggest true freshman Faizon Brandon is the leader in the clubhouse in the Tennessee Vols’ starting quarterback battle entering the summer months.

OutKick’s Trey Wallace said last week on 104.5 The Zone’s The Buck Reising Show that he’s hearing it’s “probably going to be the Faizon thing”.

“What’s Tennessee doing with their quarterback position?” said Wallace. “Is this going to be the Faizon thing or is this going to be the MacIntyre thing? From what I keep hearing, it’s probably going to be the Faizon thing. The term ‘Hail Mary’ was thrown out to me the other day in regards to MacIntyre getting the job. He had a year and a half head start on the freshman to get in and win over the locker room, and learn the playbook.”

On3’s Chris Low made some similar comments this past weekend during Rocky Top Insider’s The RTI Low-Down.

“[I] had a chance to talk with some of the guys, some of the coaches, this week over there on campus,” said Low. “I know there’s a lot of attention on the quarterback. Is it going to be Brandon? Is it going to be George MacIntyre? I think Brandon is the guy unless he does not play well in preseason — if he just has a bad camp — or if MacIntyre just plays lights out. I think coming out of the spring, the way I would put it is Brandon has positioned himself nicely to be the starter. He still has to go lock it down. You can’t fool the players.”

Vols insider slows the Faizon Brandon hype train just a bit

VolQuest’s Austin Price joined WNML’s Josh and Swain on Wednesday and shared his view of where Tennessee’s quarterback battle stands at the end of May.

Price noted that Brandon played well during spring practice, but he also isn’t ruling out that MacIntyre could still win the job.

“Everybody’s made too much about the weight stuff (with MacIntyre),” said Price. “I think the weight is the weight at this point. Faizon’s always going to have the leg up in that department. I think, (for MacIntyre) it’s just about getting the ball out on time, making good throws, and making good decisions. Don’t put the ball in harm’s way, but ultimately getting the ball out (on time).

“(MacIntyre) probably took a few too many sacks in the spring, and part of that’s not on him, but part of it probably was. If he gets the ball out on time (in fall camp), and shows he can run the offense efficiently, and does all of that, then I think he can still potentially win Tennessee’s quarterback job. I don’t think it’s done that it’s Faizon Brandon. I know what Trey (Wallace) said about a ‘Hail Mary’ and all that stuff. I think you’re still too early in the process — you don’t throw Hail Marys in the second quarter. And I think that’s kind of where we’re at with this thing. You’re not in the fourth quarter of this quarterback competition, you’re about at halftime. So we’ll see coming out of halftime, which is the first part of fall camp. The first two scrimmages will prove to be pivotal in seeing who wins Tennessee’s starting quarterback job.

“But Faizon Brandon, for a true freshman, had a really good spring. Was he perfect? No, not by any stretch. But did he do enough to go, ‘Whoa, look at this guy?’ Absolutely. Which is why there is momentum there for him heading into the summer months… Both guys are going to continue to battle it out, and we’ll see where things go over the next few months.”

There’s no doubt that this is a legitimate battle (unlike last year when it was clear fairly quickly that Joey Aguilar was going to be the guy). And Brandon certainly has a real chance to win the job.

But as Price pointed out, there’s still over three months to go before Tennessee kicks off the 2026 season. A lot can, and likely will, change during those three months.