Tennessee's QB commit wins MVP at an elite camp and Josh Heupel should be ecstatic

After Josh Heupel landed one of the top quarterbacks in the 2026 class, Faizon Brandon, many didn’t expect him to add another talented signal-caller, but he may have done just that. Tennessee landed Derrick Baker less than a month ago, and many fans were worried about his commitment. Baker is a talented three-star quarterback with the potential to play much better than his rating suggests, but fans were worried about him coming off a hand injury in his junior season, but it looks like he's making a major comeback.

The Tennessee Vols quarterback commit has done some big things on the gridiron, and he just did another by winning the MVP at The Sevens last weekend. It's never easy winning any MVP award at a T-shirt camp, and the fact that Baker beat out some five-stars is big news.

Derrick Baker wins MVP at The Sevens

This is further proof of Heupel’s talent for identifying quarterbacks. The Vols also jumped on Baker at a great buy-low spot after his injury, and with Brandon already in the fold for the previous year, Tennessee has the luxury of taking a chance on a player like Baker coming off an injury. It's great to see Baker bouncing back, too, after missing a lot of time. It can take players months to find their groove, and it looks like Baker needed much less time than others. This should build up plenty of confidence in Vols fans about Baker and should create some positive momentum for Baker heading into the final season of his high school career.

Now that Tennessee has a stud quarterback in the 2027 class, Josh Heupel needs to get Baker some talented wideouts to throw the ball to. Right now, the Vols have some elite prospects on their radar, but they have to finish the job and close on them. I really like the way the 2027 class is coming together. It's still early, and there is plenty of time left for prospects to change their mind, but the Vols sit in a really good spot with a lot of talented players.