Tennessee Vols QB commit George MacIntyre becomes victim of weird recruiting quirk as expected
Last month, I noted that 2025 Tennessee Vols quarterback commit George MacIntyre could end up being the victim of a weird college football recruiting quirk. Well, less than a month later, that's exactly what's happened. MacIntyre didn't compete in the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles last month due to an injury that wasn't completely healed […]
Last month, I noted that 2025 Tennessee Vols quarterback commit George MacIntyre could end up being the victim of a weird college football recruiting quirk.
Well, less than a month later, that's exactly what's happened.
MacIntyre didn't compete in the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles last month due to an injury that wasn't completely healed at the time.
Before MacIntyre pulled out of the event, 247Sports' Grant Hughes mentioned that the Tennessee commit needed to have a good showing at the Elite 11 in Los Angeles "to keep his arrow pointing up in the recruiting rankings".
Essentially, because MacIntyre didn't compete in the Elite 11 Finals, I suspected that he might fall in recruiting rankings.
And now he has.
Last month, MacIntyre was rated by 247Sports as the No. 30 overall recruit in the 2025 class. He was also rated as the No. 21 overall recruit in 247Sports' composite rankings.
In 247Sports' rankings update this week, MacIntyre is now rated as the No. 69 overall recruit in the 2025 class. And he's rated as the No. 43 overall player in 247Sports' composite rankings. All because he was hurt and couldn't participate in a camp that he doesn't even need to compete in (MacIntyre is already committed to Tennessee…it's not like he needs the exposure or the ratings boost).
This isn't the first time that MacIntyre has drastically dropped in recruiting rankings. When he initially committed to Tennessee in January, he was rated as the No. 9 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class by 247Sports.
MacIntyre has dropped 60 spots in 247Sports' rankings since January. And he (nor anyone else in the nation) has played a single snap in an actual football game.
I know these recruiting services and other entities make a lot of cash from these camp stops. And I know these events can be important evaluation tools. But come on, these guys aren't even in pads at these events. They aren't facing "real" situations, like a 250 lb edge rusher crashing through the line or a stud linebacker coming through the A gap untouched on a blitz. You can't truly evaluate a player until you know how they perform under pressure.
There are certain physical tools a player has to have to thrive in the SEC. But the tools are only part of the equation — especially when it comes to the quarterback position. The intangibles — pocket awareness, field awareness, escapability, improvising, competitiveness (a highly, highly important trait in my opinion) are all things that can't be truly evaluated outside of a game situation. Even practice is different than a game. Some players thrive under the lights but not in practice while some thrive in practice and crumble under the lights.
It's unfortunate for MacIntyre. There was no need for him to go all out this offseason to make sure his recruiting ranking didn't drop. And because of that, he won't be viewed as one of the top quarterback recruits in the 2025 recruiting class.
Of course, no one will be thinking about his recruiting ranking if he lights it up in the SEC once he gets his chance in Knoxville in a couple of years.
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