‘You could hear the ball sizzling’ — Tennessee WR TK Keys reveals major improvement by one Vols QB candidate since the spring
The Vols’ QB competition will be on center stage as fall camp begins.
The Tennessee Vols’ fall camp is now in full swing, and Josh Heupel and his coaching staff will now continue their evaluations of players that began back in the spring.
No position will have more scrutiny this month than the battle at quarterback that’s still ongoing between redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and true freshman Faizon Brandon. The feeling by some coming out of spring ball was that Brandon might have his nose in front in the competition.
And according to one of his wide receivers, Brandon has taken one aspect of his game to another level since the spring.
True freshman wide receiver TK Keys spoke with the media on Wednesday, and he noted how much the velocity on Brandon’s passes has ticked up since the spring.
Tennessee WR TK Keys says QB Faizon Brandon’s passes are ‘sizzling’, velocity has increased since the spring
“He always had a great spin, but I feel like now — the other day, I caught a ball without no gloves on, a bunch of balls from him in the warmups, and you could hear the ball sizzling,” Keys said. “So, it’s kind of crazy to me how he (can) do it, but he’s great at what he (does), and that’s all I can say about it.”
Tennessee fans know well that arm strength does not necessarily equate to success. That’s the story of Joe Milton and the 2023 Tennessee Vols’ offense, which struggled to establish the deep passing game that thrived with Hendon Hooker under center in 2022.
But Brandon’s deep ball touch has been one of his touted abilities coming into college, so the potential is there for Heupel and his staff to work with. And now, it sounds like Brandon is finding his fastball, so to speak, as the second stage of evaluations begin between him and MacIntyre.
We’ll find out in the coming weeks how it goes, but for now, it appears as though Tennessee’s receivers had better have their gloves on while working with Brandon.
