There aren’t many opinions in football, if any, that value more than those that come from former Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe.

Cutcliffe, who was also the head coach at Ole Miss and Duke, is the opposite of a hot take artist. His takes are measured and not reactionary, and he’s always willing to let his opinions evolve based on new information.

I’m not saying everything Cutcliffe says is the gospel — no one, after all, bats 1.000 — but when he has something to say football-related, I’m all ears.

That’s why I was very interested to hear Cutcliffe’s take this week on Tennessee true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon’s debut against Furman.

David Cutcliffe shares some thoughts on Faizon Brandon

Cutcliffe joined The George Plaster Show on Tuesday and he was asked if any of the young quarterbacks who played in Week 1 blew him away.

The former Tennessee offensive coordinator, as expected, wasn’t ready to anoint anyone as a future superstar, but he pointed out Brandon as the young quarterback who caught his attention the most.

“I didn’t really get that feeling,” said Cutcliffe. “It’s yet to be seen, in my opinion. Every quarter (of the game) was a little different for a lot of these guys, and (show co-host) Kelly (Holcomb) knows how hard it is to play the position and to prepare to play the position. I just don’t think you can walk in and say, ‘Boom, here we go.’ But the youngster at Tennessee is the one I’m going to say that got my attention the most. There’s a lot there, no question. And I didn’t really know much about him.”

Holcomb, a former NFL quarterback who was a terrific three-sport athlete at Lincoln County High School in Fayetteville, TN in the late 1980/early 1990s, chimed in and said he thinks Brandon has the “it factor.”

“You know when a guy’s got it,” said Holcomb. “There were people talking about Nico (Iamaleava) a couple years ago, and I’m like, ‘He just doesn’t do it for me, he’s not very accurate.’ I’m not shooting the guy down — he’s (Nico) got some ability.

“But when you see the Brandon kid, and you see his poise, there’s just some guys that just have it. You don’t know why they have it, but they’re staying poised. That’s kind of what he looked like to me. I know he’s a freshman, but sometimes when you get guys out there, you can look in their eyes and you can tell that the moment is pretty big for them. I don’t think you get that with this young man.”

Cutcliffe agreed with Holcomb’s take on Brandon.

“That’s what I saw,” added Cutcliffe. “Without knowing a lot about (Brandon) — I don’t know anything about him. I’ve never met him. I haven’t gone up there. I will say this: confidence is earned, it’s never given. People will say, ‘I wish people had confidence in me.’ Okay, earn it. Well, it looks like he has worked his rear end off, and people around him are confident in him. And that poise you’re talking about, Kelly, comes from confidence, and that’s what I saw that interested me.”

We all have our own opinions after watching Brandon play, and I’m sure most of us trust our opinions, but it’s always wise to weigh opinions against those of others who we trust just to make sure we’re not getting stuck in a confirmation bias loop.

And Cutcliffe is someone I trust.

So to hear him echo many of the same thoughts that I had — specifically about Brandon’s poise — just further confirms what I thought after the Vols’ win over Furman: this kid has a chance to be special.

Now, he’s gotta go earn it every day in practice and on Saturdays. But if he stays within himself and plays his game, and stays confident without trying to do too much, he has a chance to have a memorable career at Tennessee.