After Josh Heupel missed out on Sam Leavitt, Ty Simpson, and Beau Pribula, fans have been searching everywhere for which quarterback Tennessee should try to pursue next. A new name came up, and it was Duke's Darian Mensah.
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Mensah just formally entered the Transfer Portal less than an hour ago, but the rumors have been going on all day that he was potentially leaving Duke. After these rumors started that he was potentially leaving, Vols fans were pleading all over social media for Josh Heupel to make a run for the talented quarterback.
ESPN's Pete Thamel is reporting that Tennessee has decided not to put its name in the Mensah sweepstakes.
Per a source, Tennessee is not recruiting Darian Mensah. https://t.co/PwiXmpLiv7
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 16, 2026
Josh Heupel is not going after Darian Mensah
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this is that Josh Heupel must feel very confident about what he has in the quarterback room. If Tennessee is passing up on a quarterback with nearly 7,000 career passing yards and 56 touchdowns in only two years, he must really like what he has in George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon. There has been a lot of positive chatter recently about the young quarterbacks.
It's becoming clear that Tennessee will not get a starting quarterback from the portal. They still will need to add someone, but it's expected to be more of a veteran backup than a surefire starter. Pretty much every viable starting option is gone anyway, so it will have to be one of the freshmen, which isn't a bad thing. Long term, this could be the best option for the Vols. They might suffer a little bit in 2026, but who cares if down the line it brings the Vols an SEC title or perhaps a national championship?
My gut says George MacIntyre will be the starter Week 1 versus Furman, but I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit if Brandon wins. Spring ball will tell us a lot more about each player, but I would give the edge to G-mac right now with the year of experience in the Heupel system. This is a very fluid take, though, and could change.