It’s unclear who will start at quarterback for Tennessee this weekend on the road against Arkansas.

True freshman Faizon Brandon, who started the first five games of the season, was benched in the first half last weekend against Auburn. Brandon was replaced by sophomore George MacIntyre, who led the Vols on three scoring drives in the second half (all three scoring drives ended with rushing touchdowns from DeSean Bishop).

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel isn’t ready to reveal who will start against Arkansas, but the general feeling is that MacIntyre will get the start after the way he played against Auburn.

And most believe that MacIntyre deserves that opportunity.

But that doesn’t mean that the door should be closed on Brandon.

Brandon still has the most upside of any quarterback on the roster — he just isn’t the best version of himself right now.

Longtime NFL draft analyst Todd McShay, however, is convinced Brandon is a future star — even after he was benched against Auburn.

“Faizon Brandon is going to be an absolute star,” said McShay this week on The McShay Show. “He’s just a pup and he’s going through it right now.”

Brandon is in the very early stages of his college football career. He’s nowhere close to being the player he’s capable of being.

And look, who knows if Brandon ever gets to that point. I’m not saying he will or he won’t. But he’s a player who has the tools to be one of the top players in the sport if he eventually puts it all together, and that’s not the type of player you give up on after six tough quarters of football.