‘George certainly has the better command’ – Insider shares first impressions of the Tennessee Vols’ quarterback battle
The Tennessee Vols’ quarterback competition is officially underway.
Spring practice started this week for the Tennessee Vols, which means the starting quarterback battle on Rocky Top is officially underway.
Redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, true freshman Faizon Brandon, and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub are battling for the Vols’ starting quarterback job.
MacIntyre and Brandon are viewed as the favorites to win the job, but Staub is very much in the competition, too.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel told reporters this week that a starter likely won’t be named until sometime during fall camp.
“Don’t expect a guy to be named here during the course of spring ball,” said Heupel. “I think it’s important that all the guys in that room learn and grow throughout the course of spring. But also have a chance to go back in the summer months, digest it, reinstall, and come back a much better player and compete and earn it in front of their teammates as you get into training camp.”
Insider shares first impressions of Tennessee’s quarterback battle
VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs joined 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will on Friday and shared some early thoughts on what he’s seen from Tennessee’s quarterbacks through the first few spring practices.
“I think all three of those guys have thrown the ball well,” said Hubbs. “I think they’ve been accurate with the ball. Now, we’ve not seen a bunch of one-on-ones and seven-on-sevens. But I think they all have pretty good command of what they’re doing. George certainly has the better command. But I mean, Faizon’s physical talents are very, very obvious. Now, they’re trying to tweak some things with his mechanics — particularly using his lower body more and getting his legs more involved into his throwing motion.
“George is always working on his release and trying to tighten it up. But I think those guys have come out with the urgency that you’re looking for. I think they’ve handled themselves well. And I think all of them understand they’re in a marathon, not a sprint — nobody’s winning this job this spring. Nobody’s winning the job in June. This job is going to be settled probably after the second scrimmage in August. And they know what they’ve got to do — they have to stack days. They need to have good day after good day and build on their game. And that’s what both those guys, in particular Faizon and George, are trying to do. And I think it’s been a nice start to the first week. It’ll get more intense as we go and get into scrimmage settings here, and how those guys manage that will certainly be of note. But I think it’s been a nice start for that group.”
It’s no surprise to hear MacIntyre currently has the better command of the offense — that was to be expected since he’s the only quarterback in this battle with previous experience in Heupel’s offense.
Brandon, however, will certainly continue to make progress in his command of the offense as he continues to, as Hubbs put it, stack days.
This is going to be a fun quarterback battle to monitor. For now, though, it’s basically round one of a boxing match where the fighters are feeling each other out.
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