With Joey Aguilar not getting an extra year of eligibility, the hunt is on for Tennessee and Josh Heupel to find a talented replacement. Luckily for the veteran head coach, there's plenty of talent in the quarterbacks room and the battle is heating up at spring ball.
The veteran of the room is Colorado transfer Ryan Staub, but currently, all eyes are on George MacIntyre and 5-star freshman Faizon Brandon, who graduated high school early and is already in Knoxville making a bit of a splash.
Heupel has done his best to not tip his hand here, saying things are pretty even and all of his quarterbacks are impressing him. However, ESPN's Greg McElroy doesn't really buy into that much, as he thinks the fact that MacIntyre getting the first set of reps during drills and live action is telling. Do fans agree with him here?
ESPN College Football analyst Greg McElroy thinks that the order of reps in spring camp could be an early indication of who the #Vols next QB will be 🍊
— FOX Sports Knoxville (@FOXSportsKnox) April 2, 2026
"The rep order in practice is maybe telling us something, even if Heupel's not willing to," said McElroy on his “Always… pic.twitter.com/oSDsDYDjG2
George MacIntyre will hope to hold off Faizon Brandon for the Tennessee starting QB job
After last season, there was thought that maybe Jake Merklinger would stick around to fight for the job, but he entered the transfer portal and signed with UConn - it was clear that MacIntyre had the better shot there between the two of them.
And thus far at spring camp, MacIntyre has looked solid in throwing the ball all over the field. With his familiarity with the offense, it's clear that Heupel has a ton of confidence in him to run the show if his number gets called. Brandon of course is going to have a say in things.
The 6-3, 200-pounder has arrived in Knoxville ranked the No. 3 quarterback in the country for the 2026 class. Virtually every big-name school was chasing his signature, but the Vols got things done early with him and he never wavered in his decision to suit up for the SEC side.
Brandon is a big-time talent and he's got a rocket for an arm. The idea of him starting as a true freshman isn't wild at all, as he's also mature beyond his years and he's winning over his new teammates. With that said, MacIntyre has an extra year in the program he's hoping to take advantage of. Things feel like a coin flip and while McElroy seems to think MacIntyre has the advantage, we really think this could go either way once Week 1 rolls around.