Tennessee Football will face the three worst quarterback rooms in the SEC next season, according to new rankings on Wednesday. But the Vols’ ranking itself isn’t that much higher.
In a Twitter post from Mike Bratton, Athlon Sports writer Steven Lassan laid out his full SEC rankings for quarterback rooms across the conference. The top four are quite understandable, led by Texas’ Arch Manning, Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss, Georgia’s Gunner Stockton, and LSU’s Sam Leavitt.
Then you look to the bottom of the rankings, though. You’ll find Arkansas at No. 16, Vanderbilt at No. 15, and Kentucky at No. 14. All three teams are on Tennessee’s upcoming schedule this fall, with two of them being part of the Vols’ three annual opponents group (UK and VU).
Tennessee comes in at the fourth from the bottom, landing at No. 13 in the rankings.
Opponents on Tennessee’s new nine-game SEC schedule this season include No. 1 Texas, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Auburn, No. 6 South Carolina, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 9 Alabama, No. 14 Kentucky, No. 15 Vanderbilt, and No. 16 Arkansas.
SEC QB Room Rankings by @AthlonSteven
#1 Texas: “Texas, Arch Manning, you knew that already.” 🙄
#2 Ole Miss: “Trinidad Chambliss, also pretty good backup option with Deuce Knight.”
#3 Georgia: “Gunner Stockton, rock solid. All-SEC pick.” pic.twitter.com/hkQkXTHhC3
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) June 18, 2026
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Tennessee’s quarterback situation is no mystery to those following the Volunteers this offseason. There’s a well-known battle happening on campus, with redshirt-freshman George MacIntyre, true freshman Faizon Brandon, and Colorado transfer Ryan Staub in the mix. Reports from spring camp suggest that the job favors one of the two freshmen, but head coach Josh Heupel had no intention of naming a starter or ruling anyone out during spring training camp.
Instead, Heupel wanted his players to soak in feedback from the spring slate and grow from it during the summer months. The three candidates will come back during fall camp and put it all together, and then we’ll see from there.
It’s obviously not a room that presents the same experience as many of the top teams in the rankings. In fact, five of the Top 8 teams all have a quarterback who has suited up in the College Football Playoffs at some point in their career.
Considering Tennessee has two freshmen, one who was the third-string last season and the other who was in high school last fall, it’s not all too shocking to see the Vols’ placement on the list.
That all being said, though, you’ve got to start somewhere. And Tennessee will likely hit the ground running with the No. 17 quarterback from the 2025 class (MacIntyre) or the No. 3 overall quarterback from the 2026 cycle (Brandon). Both showed plenty of talent on the high school circuit, but the Vols will need to harness and expedite those traits if it wants to avoid falling behind this season.
Tennessee will begin its 2026 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 5, in the home game against Furman.
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