Eighteen high school quarterbacks traveled to Southern California this week to compete in the Elite 11— a premier quarterback camp that ranks the 11 best prep signal callers in the country.
Tennessee commit Faizon Brandon had a strong week on the west coast, impressing analysts, completing 19-of-22 passes with three touchdowns and one interception in Thursday’s 7v7 work and revealing that he considered enrolling in Knoxville a year early.
Despite a strong showing, Brandon came up short of winning the Elite 11 MVP and finished fifth in the final Elite 11 rankings. Texas commit Dia Bell won event MVP while Texas A&M commit Helaman Casuga and uncommitted quarterbacks Bryson Beaver and Bowe Bentley also finished ahead of Brandon.
The star Tennessee commit finished ahead of commits for Louisville, North Carolina, Houston, Alabama, Duke and an uncommitted prospect. Florida commit Will Griffin was one of the seven quarterbacks at the event that did not make the Elite 11.
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Brandon ranks as a five-star and the No. 6 player in the country according to the 247sports composite rankings. The Greensboro native also ranks as the No. 2 quarterback and the No. 1 player in the state of North Carolina.
Georgia commit, and Nashville native, Jared Curtis ranks as the No. 1 quarterback according in the country according to the composite rankings but is not competing in this week’s Elite 11.
247sports own rankings are even higher on Brandon, ranking him not only as the No. 1 quarterback but the No. 1 player in the country.
Brandon committed to Tennessee last August over Alabama, LSU and North Carolina State. The five-star quarterback was the Vols’ first commit in their 2026 recruiting class and remains theIR highest rated commit. Tennessee also has a commitment from low five-star offensive tackle Gabriel Osenda.
Tennessee football’s 2026 recruiting class currently contains nine commits, ranks No. 37 nationally and No. 8 in the SEC according to the 247sports team rankings.
