Where Tennessee’s George MacIntyre lands in national media outlet’s rankings of SEC quarterbacks
The Tennessee Vols will have a new quarterback in 2026.
The Tennessee Vols, for the fifth straight season, will have a new quarterback in 2026.
With Joey Aguilar heading to the NFL, the Vols will feature a three-man quarterback battle this spring and fall between redshirt freshman George MacIntyre, true freshman Faizon Brandon, and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub.
MacIntyre, a quarterback who has been praised for his quick processing, is viewed as the favorite to win the battle, though Brandon will very much have a chance to win the job.
“It’s truly an open competition,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price Tuesday on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will. “The people that have just handed this thing to George, similar to the people that handed it to (Jake) Merklinger last April…this thing is going to be an open competition.
“Now, does George have the inside track? Yeah, because he has time on task in the system, so he has to take advantage of that. This spring is big for George. George needs to leave spring with a similar, I won’t say lead, but [a similar type of] inside track to the job. If Faizon mentally picks it up, then things get a little tighter. And it really will be a coin flip come August. But this is an open competition.”
Even with this being a true open competition, MacIntyre is still the favorite to win the job.
Where George MacIntyre ranks among the SEC quarterbacks according to CBS Sports
Earlier this week, CBS Sports ranked the starting quarterbacks in the SEC.
They have MacIntyre at No. 14, ahead of only KJ Jackson at Arkansas and Jared Curtis at Vanderbilt.
“Joey Aguilar’s failed bid for an extra year of eligibility cleared the way for Tennessee to turn the keys over to the battle between MacIntyre, a redshirt freshman, five-star freshman Faizon Brandon and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub,” wrote CBS Sports’ Cody Nagel. “While Brandon is an elite talent coming off a senior-season injury, and Staub has the only college starts of the group, MacIntyre is likely the most ready to step in immediately as the Week 1 starter.”
MacIntyre has only attempted nine passes in his brief college career, so there isn’t much to go on when ranking him.
It’ll be much more interesting to see where MacIntyre is ranked (if he wins the job) come midseason.
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