Tennessee football’s quarterback battle is between three largely inexperienced options. The youngest of the trio is true freshman Faizon Brandon.
While the former five-star recruit hasn’t played a college snap like his teammates George MacIntyre and Ryan Staub (though both haven’t played much), he’s fully entrenched in the battle with a real shot to win it. A big reason for this is the physical tools he brings to the table.
As Brandon enters spring ball, he stands at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds. On the practice field, you couldn’t tell that he’s just 17 years old at the time of spring practice. Passing that physical test is the first thing offensive coordinator Joey Halzle wanted to see.
“So the first thing you got to look at is can the guy physically hold up?” Halzle said. “A lot of guys, they get on campus, and maybe they’re not quite ready yet physically, which is not uncommon. With him there, he is physically ready. He’s a big, strong kid. He can handle what it would take to go play 17 games in this conference.”
More From RTI: What Tennessee Football Freshman QB Faizon Brandon Said to Begin Spring Practice
The next aspect is the mental side. Halzle wants to see his quarterback be able to process things as bullets fly on the field and have a firm understanding of the playbook and system.
Brandon said that he hasn’t had much trouble picking up the playbook, either. With the tools that are provided, he’s dove into things on his own time and is getting a firm grasp of what the staff wants to accomplish.
“And then the next part is, alright, yeah, physically, he can hold up, he can do it,” Halzle said. “Mentally, how’s he grasping? How’s he doing it? Can he put the whole offense on? Is it just part of it? Can he put the whole run game? Can he adjust protection? So if you feel like you got a guy that can physically handle it, and he’s mentally handling the basis of it, then it shifts to, alright, what can we actually put on this guy? How much can we put on him without making him now play slow? Because you want to put as much as you can where you’re not feeling like you don’t have your offense. But if you’re saying, like, if that’s a guy we’re starting with, and this isn’t his best thing, well then let’s not put that on him.”
Don’t expect a decision to be made on the starter soon, though. Head coach Josh Heupel said that it’ll leak into the fall as they evaluate where each option is at once the season draws closer.
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