Sophomore George MacIntyre will start at quarterback for the Tennessee Vols this weekend against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

It’ll be MacIntyre’s first career start.

The Tennessee native replaced freshman Faizon Brandon, who started the first five games of the season, after Brandon was ineffective in the first half against Auburn last Saturday.

Brandon, who is also dealing with a shoulder injury that he suffered in the Vols’ loss to Texas two weeks ago, was listed as questionable on the SEC availability report on Wednesday evening.

Former Vols QB Jarrett Guarantano was hoping to see Faizon Brandon get another shot against Arkansas

Former Volunteers quarterback Jarrett Guarantano joined 104.5 The Zone’s 3HL on Wednesday to discuss Tennessee’s quarterback situation.

Guarantano noted that he was hoping to see Brandon get the start against Arkansas. It’s not that Guarantano doesn’t believe in MacIntyre, he just wanted to see Brandon get a chance to get the bad taste out of his mouth after his performance against Auburn.

“We’re going against an Arkansas team that is yes, an SEC team, but they’re not as good as they’ve been in the past. I was hoping that we were able to give Faizon another opportunity to go out there and play and create some positivity in his game,” said Guarantano. “And hopefully, that would lead into his confidence going up from it. But if George is playing, then obviously he’s not going to get that opportunity. Or if they go two quarterbacks, maybe he does.

“But it’s really tough for a young player like that with his past and obviously having so much success to sit there and say like, ‘Now he’s done. He’s going to get benched.’ It’s hard to see the future weeks. It’s hard to say, ‘Alright, in three weeks you’re going to have an opportunity to go play,’ when right now all he’s thinking about is what’s happened in these last two games.”

“From the aspect of Tennessee, we don’t want to lose games as a football team,” added Guarantano. “And we also understand that we have a young player with a lot of talent. So at the beginning of the year, what is the best thing to do? We thought that it was putting him out there.

“Now it’s like, ‘Okay, we realize that he needs some time.’ What is this going to do to his confidence level? Now that we have to sit him, and now everybody’s [questioning if he can play]. … We know he’s a young player. He’s going to get better. He’s going to be great. But also, this is what comes with playing young players — [learning] the ropes.”

Ultimately, it’s a tough spot for Tennessee. They have to win games. And MacIntyre probably gives them the best chance against Arkansas (especially with Brandon still injured to some degree). But Josh Heupel and his staff also have a duty to develop Brandon as a quarterback — that’s something that seems to get lost in the transfer portal era where everyone’s focus is on wins over development (which I understand, but it’s still not what is best for the athletes themselves…it’s just what’s best for fans).

I get where Guarantano is coming from, but I think sitting Brandon until he’s fully healthy and then getting him back on the field (when it makes sense and based on how MacIntyre plays) is the best move right now.