ESPN analyst revealed something Vols fans should know about Tennessee’s decision to name Faizon Brandon the starting QB
Former five-star recruit Faizon Brandon was named the Tennessee Volunteers’ starting quarterback on Monday morning.
True freshman Faizon Brandon was named the Tennessee Vols’ starting quarterback on Monday.
Brandon beat out redshirt freshman George MacIntyre to win the job.
When the battle officially got underway five months ago in spring practice, the general feeling was that MacIntyre was the favorite to win the job due to his year of experience in Josh Heupel’s system.
Brandon, though, exited spring practice as the perceived leader, and then had an even stronger fall camp to, as Heupel put it, “earn the job.”
MacIntyre, to his credit, didn’t play poorly during fall camp. In fact, ESPN’s Greg McElroy said that MacIntyre had a “very good fall camp.”
But Brandon’s elite playmaking ability was the separator in this battle — a battle that McElroy says “wasn’t particularly close” by the end.
“Faizon Brandon is officially Tennessee’s starting quarterback, and he was the more productive of the two in the first scrimmage,” said McElroy. “And then he was the more productive of the two in the second (scrimmage). And by all accounts, by the end of it, it wasn’t particularly close.
“Now, it wasn’t flawless by any stretch. You want to be fair about that. He’s facing a lot of pressures and different looks from (Vols defensive coordinator) Jim Knowles. And at times, maybe he wasn’t quite patient enough with his protection. But it doesn’t really matter because he’s got legs. If you listen to those that have watched Brandon closely, he would have led the team in rushing on Saturday if he had not been wearing a red non-contact jersey. So that’s the trait.”
“George MacIntyre, if you listen to what people have said, he had a pretty good fall camp,” continued McElroy. “Actually a very good fall camp, but he just didn’t quite make the plays that Faizon Brandon made consistently. So the upside of Brandon, the mobility of Brandon, and remember, this is in a non-contact red jersey. Once you get a 220-plus pound quarterback out there, he’s not tackled with a two-hand touch, so his best might actually be in front of him. But there will be occasional mistakes. He’s a young player, but still very optimistic about the long term upside.”
Tennessee is in a great position with its quarterback situation
Tennessee is in a great spot with its quarterbacks. The Vols have two extremely talented options. MacIntyre didn’t lose the job, he just ended up in a quarterback battle against a player with a higher ceiling who won the job.
There’s a decent chance that Tennessee will need MacIntyre to play some important snaps at some point this fall. If and when that happens, it certainly sounds like MacIntyre will be ready to show everyone that he’s an SEC talent.
