Obviously, the biggest concern for Tennessee football fans right now is who will emerge as the starting quarterback and how they will perform in the system under Josh Heupel. The defense is expected to be improved next season, and the offense still has plenty of weapons around it. But if the quarterback position doesn’t perform consistently and distribute the ball effectively, it’s going to be difficult for Tennessee to reach its full potential and it could end up being another underwhelming year in Knoxville.
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That said, ESPN recently ranked all 138 quarterback situations into 25 tiers, and the Tennessee Vols ended up in “Tier 12: What’s behind Door No. 2?” It’s not a great ranking on the surface, but it’s also not totally shocking. There’s still a lot of uncertainty at quarterback with George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon, and until someone proves it on the field, that’s probably where Tennessee is going to get slotted in these types of lists.
Tennessee also had Clemson, North Carolina, and Cincinnati in their tier, with ESPN saying, "Tier 12 presents the ultimate combination of the devil you know vs. the one you don't. On one hand, each of these teams could go with a veteran player -- either an in-house talent or a portal addition. They're all safe(ish) bets. On the other hand, there's a true freshman with massive upside and virtually no practice reps."
ESPN is not very high on the Tennessee quarterback situation
This isn’t much of a surprise, as most national analyses have been fairly low on the Tennessee quarterback room in these types of rankings. At this point, it’s going to have to be a “prove it” mindset for the Vols in order to move up. National outlets are generally not going to rank two inexperienced or unproven quarterbacks above established or proven options across the country, even if those proven starters are just average performers like Anthony Colandrea or Avery Johnson. Whether it's fair or not doesn't matter because ultimately, if they play well, they will skyrocket in these types of things.
What is a bit frustrating, though, is that nobody really seems to believe in Josh Heupel. He’s clearly a great offensive mind who puts quarterbacks in good positions to succeed, but he rarely gets the benefit of the doubt nationally. His system is very quarterback-friendly, and he has had recent success developing new quarterbacks, but that doesn’t always seem to be reflected in outside perception. Aguilar thrived in Knocxviolle. Even if he was a veteran, it was his first year in the system. Joe Milton and Hendon Hooker came on and thrived, and Nico led the Vols to the playoffs. Heupel has had success with everyone.
On the bright side, this is a great chance for the Vols quarterbacks, MacIntyre and Brandon, to prove people wrong. Both guys bring something different to the table, and whoever ends up winning the job will get the chance to show it on one of the biggest stages in college football.
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