Prominent national media outlet predicts who the Tennessee Vols' starting quarterback will be in 2026
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Who is going to start at quarterback for the Tennessee Vols in 2026?
That’s the question that everyone on Rocky Top is trying to answer right now.
It’s unlikely that Joey Aguilar, who started all 12 regular season games at quarterback for the Vols in 2025, will return in 2026 (Aguilar is still waiting to hear about an additional season of eligibility, but there isn’t much optimism that it’ll work out).
For now, incoming true freshman Faizon Brandon, a former five-star recruit, and rising redshirt freshman George MacIntyre are the only scholarship quarterbacks that will be on the roster next season. Tennessee, however, is expected to add a transfer quarterback this offseason.
The Athletic predicts who will start at quarterback for Tennessee in 2026
It’s a bit too early to predict who will start at quarterback for most programs in 2026 (the transfer portal hasn’t opened yet, so we don’t know what rosters will look like). But that didn’t stop The Athletic from taking a guess at who will start at quarterback for each FBS program next fall.
The Athletic’s Manny Navarro predicts that Faizon Brandon will start as a true freshman for the Volunteers in 2026.
“There’s a chance Joey Aguilar will be granted another season of eligibility, but a decision on that isn’t imminent,” wrote Navarro. “They will kick the tires on a portal option, but five-star quarterbacks aren’t cheap, so it wouldn’t be very efficient to keep Brandon on the bench. Jake Merklinger has already announced his plan to transfer, leaving redshirt freshman George MacIntyre as the only in-house competition.”
We’ll see how Tennessee’s quarterback situation plays out over the next few weeks/months, but I’d ultimately be surprised if Brandon is named the starter next fall. There’s no doubt that Brandon is extremely talented, but he still has some developing to do — and there’s no need to rush that development.
Tennessee’s coaching staff loves MacIntyre, and he has a year of experience in Josh Heupel’s offense, which is why I think he’s a more realistic option than Brandon to start for the Vols next season.
The best-case scenario for the Vols, though, would be for Aguilar to return for another season. But those odds seem low.
It’ll be interesting to see if Tennessee pursues an expensive plug-n-play option at quarterback or if they bring in a depth option to compete with MacIntyre and Brandon for the starting job.
Related: Old SEC East rival named as an early team to watch for Tennessee Vols transfer running back
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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Dec 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the Nashville section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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