George MacIntyre lost Tennessee’s quarterback competition to Faizon Brandon. So, he will begin this season in a different role than what he had envisioned when he signed with the Vols as a four-star recruit in 2025.
His role is different. But he’s still important to UT football.
MacIntyre’s college career is just beginning. He has four more years of eligibility, including this one.
It’s safe to say his college career won’t end at Tennessee. He likely will transfer to another school at the end of the season for an opportunity to be the No. 1 quarterback somewhere else.
But what he does as a backup still matters. He has time to develop physically and mentally as a quarterback.
Every time he steps on the field he’s auditioning for his next job, which
– if all goes well – will be as a starting quarterback. And you know what they say about backups in football. They’re one injury away from becoming a starter.
With the way non-starters flee for the portal, depth has become a luxury in college football. That’s especially true at quarterback, where backups stay backups until the starter goes down. Injuries turn backups into starters.
Look what happened at Ole Miss last season. Quarterback Austin Simmons suffered a minor injury on Sept. 6, and backup Trinidad Chambliss started the following week – and the rest of an Ole Miss season that ended in the playoff semifinals.
Simmons’ minor injury coupled with Chambliss’ spectacular play is anything but a typical quarterback story. In fact, most teams pay a steep price if their starting quarterback misses just a couple of games.
Tennessee has been fortunate with its quarterbacks during Josh Heupel’s first five seasons. The Vols lost Hendon Hooker to injury in the penultimate regular-season game of 2022. Their past three quarterbacks have stayed healthy for the most part, although Joey Aguilar played part of last season with a tumor on his throwing arm.
Perhaps, UT’s good fortune will continue. Maybe Brandon will start and finish the season. If he doesn’t, the Vols at least should be better off at the position than they were in 2024 or last season when then-freshmen MacIntyre and Jake Merklinger were in reserve. Now, they have a more experienced MacIntyre and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub.
Staub’s career stats include 30 completions in 55 passing attempts for 437 yards and three touchdowns. In 2023, he completed 17 of 24 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown in a 24-17 loss to Utah. Two years later, he completed 19 of 35 passes for 204 yards in a loss to Houston.
In this era, SEC teams don’t usually have a No. 3 quarterback with that much experience.
No doubt, depth issues at quarterback factored into how cautiously the Vols used Nico Iamaleava in 2024. You didn’t fully realize how cautiously until you watched him last season at UCLA, where his running prowess was on full display.
Brandon’s running ability should be a plus this season. And UT’s quarterback depth could be another plus.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Quarterback depth could be a plus for Tennessee football | Adams
