'26 NC QB Faizon Brandon (Tennessee commit)

[WillisWG]

Tennessee QB Commit Faizon Brandon Jumps Up in Rivals' 2026 Rankings | Rocky Top Insider

Tennessee quarterback commit Faizon Brandon skyrocketed up to a five-star ranking in Rivals' updated 2026 rankings on Monday.

www.rockytopinsider.com

Rivals revealed their updated list of five-star prospects in the 2026 class on Monday morning with Brandon landing as the No. 6 overall prospect and a five-star recruit. Brandon was previously ranked as the No. 134 overall player, the No. 8 quarterback in the class, and the No. 8 player from the state of North Carolina.

 

[OrangeMoundTNVol]

About five spots too low

 

[allvolrecruiting]

About five spots too low

Regardless of where he ends up, it should be expected to see him outperform his ranking with his projectability and Heupel. Even if that means he’s at 1

 

[gainesvol82]

Effortless. Strong arm but throws a catchable ball like HH did and Nico looks like he will. Possibly better running threat than either. Damn we are going to have a ton of elite talent stacked at QB. Afraid that Merk might be the odd man out unless Nico misses time or Merk beats out GMac....but no matter what I cant see how you keep Faizon off the field his RS-FR or true Sophomore year.

Heupel is a wizard if he manages to keep all 4. I doubt that happens, though. Merk or GMac will transfer.

 

[gainesvol82]

It's not because Clemson sucks, even though they do. It's because Heupel is an elite recruiter who has demonstrated that his offense is going to score a lot of points.

We are a major reason that Clemson is on a steady decline. Dabo must hate CJH and Rodney Garner.

 

[vol72]

We are a major reason that Clemson is on a steady decline. Dabo must hate CJH and Rodney Garner.

Eff 'em. What goes around, comes around. Karma.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

We are a major reason that Clemson is on a steady decline. Dabo must hate CJH and Rodney Garner.

I wish their decline would hurry up and happen

 

[kong]

I wish their decline would hurry up and happen

They went from beating bama for national championships to playing 7-5 Kentucky in the gator bowl lol

 

[MarcoVol]

They went from beating bama for national championships to playing 7-5 Kentucky in the gator bowl lol

To be fair, that was just one year. Last season was their worst in like 13 years and they still went 9-4. Dabo’s refusal to adapt to the new era of college football will keep them on a downward trend overall tho.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

They went from beating bama for national championships to playing 7-5 Kentucky in the gator bowl lol

Last year was their worst season since 2010 and they went 9-4. So if they are in the decline, they should only win maybe 7 or 8 this year right?

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

To be fair, that was just one year. Last season was their worst in like 13 years and they still went 9-4. Dabo’s refusal to adapt to the new era of college football will keep them on a downward trend overall tho.

We hope so.

 

[kong]

Last year was their worst season since 2010 and they went 9-4. So if they are in the decline, they should only win maybe 7 or 8 this year right?

They won two national championships under dabo. So if they are not on the decline, they will win the championship this year? Right? See how I did that?

 

[SugarCC]

Last year was their worst season since 2010 and they went 9-4. So if they are in the decline, they should only win maybe 7 or 8 this year right?

No, wrong.

2015-2020, finished no lower than #4 in any poll, with 2 National Championships and 6 ACC Championships. Also in this time, they went to 4 CFP, and two Sugar Bowls.

2021: 14th in final AP poll, 16th in Coach's; won the Cheez-it Bowl

2022: Did win the ACC Championship, but finished 13th in AP poll, 12th in Coach's; lost in Orange Bowl

2023: 20th in final AP poll, 20th in Coach's; tied for 6th in ACC; won Gator Bowl

I know preseason polls are meaningless; but, they are preseason #14 in both polls entering this year...after being preseason #3-#5 from 2016-2020.

Decline must mean something completely different to you than it does anyone else.

 

[kong]

No, wrong.

2015-2020, finished no lower than #4 in any poll, with 2 National Championships and 6 ACC Championships. Also in this time, they went to 4 CFP, and two Sugar Bowls.

2021: 14th in final AP poll, 16th in Coach's; won the Cheez-it Bowl

2022: Did win the ACC Championship, but finished 13th in AP poll, 12th in Coach's; lost in Orange Bowl

2023: 20th in final AP poll, 20th in Coach's; tied for 6th in ACC; won Gator Bowl

I know preseason polls are meaningless; but, they are preseason #14 in both polls entering this year...after being preseason #3-#5 from 2016-2020.

Decline must mean something completely different to you than it does anyone else.

More telling than the preseason poll is Georgia opening as -600 favorites on a neutral field lol

 

[buckfama]

No, wrong.

2015-2020, finished no lower than #4 in any poll, with 2 National Championships and 6 ACC Championships. Also in this time, they went to 4 CFP, and two Sugar Bowls.

2021: 14th in final AP poll, 16th in Coach's; won the Cheez-it Bowl

2022: Did win the ACC Championship, but finished 13th in AP poll, 12th in Coach's; lost in Orange Bowl

2023: 20th in final AP poll, 20th in Coach's; tied for 6th in ACC; won Gator Bowl

I know preseason polls are meaningless; but, they are preseason #14 in both polls entering this year...after being preseason #3-#5 from 2016-2020.

Decline must mean something completely different to you than it does anyone else.

I usually agree with you, but I do feel Clemson is circling the drain. I feel that the ACC had grown so weak that it props up their record. Anytime they've played a team with a pulse the last 3 years, they have lost. They seem to play Florida State tough, but you can see how much the playoff committee thought of their schedule and conference. They seem to split with Notre Dame, but again, I feel they are in the overhyped boat with Clemson.

I'm not saying that they can't be better or get back to their old form, but they aren't near being that team this year.

Dabo is following in Fulmers footsteps. Refused to change until it was too late. We will see how his new spread offense looks this year. That will tell us a lot about Clemson.

 

[SugarCC]

I usually agree with you, but I do feel Clemson is circling the drain. I feel that the ACC had grown so weak that it props up the record. Anytime they've played a team with a pulse the last 3 years, they have lost. They seem to play Florida State tough, but you can see how much the playoff committee thought of their schedule and conference. They seem to split with Notre Dame, but again, I feel they are in the overhyped boat with Clemson.

I'm not saying that they can't be better or get back to their old form, but they aren't near being that team this year.

Dabo is following in Fulmers footsteps. Refused to change until it was too late. We will see how his new spread offense looks this year. That will tell us a lot about Clemson.

I believe you're still agreeing with me, actually...we're saying basically the same things.

Go back and re-read my post, and look at the post I was replying to.

While, yes...I, too, believe Clemson can right the ship, the last 3 seasons are on a decline, by any meaning of the word.

 

[buckfama]

I believe you're still agreeing with me, actually...we're saying basically the same things.

Go back and re-read my post, and look at the post I was replying to.

While, yes...I, too, believe Clemson can right the ship, the last 3 seasons are on a decline, by any meaning of the word.

My bad. I guess I misunderstood.

I see you were replying to BOT that seems to believe Clemson is still strong.

Any way you look at the last 4 years, Clemson has slipped and can't seem to get enough traction to get back in the elite club. Venables leaving hurt them worse than they will admit, and Dabo hasn't found an equal yet.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

My bad. I guess I misunderstood.

I see you were replying to BOT that seems to believe Clemson is still strong.

Any way you look at the last 4 years, Clemson has slipped and can't seem to get enough traction to get back in the elite club. Venables leaving hurt them worse than they will admit, and Dabo hasn't found an equal yet.

Kind of has that Cutcliffe impact doesn’t it. Will see if he can find some more secret sauce in the NEW NIL and portal world.

 

[AllVol11717]

I believe you're still agreeing with me, actually...we're saying basically the same things.

Go back and re-read my post, and look at the post I was replying to.

While, yes...I, too, believe Clemson can right the ship, the last 3 seasons are on a decline, by any meaning of the word.

Definitely sinking into a lull. Reminds me a little of Fulmer’s last years with a mixed bag of good and really disappointing seasons. I’d even say their dropoff in QB talent is similar to ours at the time.

Now if they have a Fulmer 2008(?) and barely make a bowl while losing to some underwhelming teams, does Dabo’s seat get hot for his rigidity in teambuilding? Interested to see if they can right the ship or if the goods times are over

 

[butchna]

Definitely sinking into a lull. Reminds me a little of Fulmer’s last years with a mixed bag of good and really disappointing seasons. I’d even say their dropoff in QB talent is similar to ours at the time.

Now if they have a Fulmer 2008(?) and barely make a bowl while losing to some underwhelming teams, does Dabo’s seat get hot for his rigidity in teambuilding? Interested to see if they can right the ship or if the goods times are over

Since Urban, they’ve had a notoriously short leash…with much better coaching talent getting choked out than us post Fulmer.

 

[TAF]

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

No, wrong.

2015-2020, finished no lower than #4 in any poll, with 2 National Championships and 6 ACC Championships. Also in this time, they went to 4 CFP, and two Sugar Bowls.

2021: 14th in final AP poll, 16th in Coach's; won the Cheez-it Bowl

2022: Did win the ACC Championship, but finished 13th in AP poll, 12th in Coach's; lost in Orange Bowl

2023: 20th in final AP poll, 20th in Coach's; tied for 6th in ACC; won Gator Bowl

I know preseason polls are meaningless; but, they are preseason #14 in both polls entering this year...after being preseason #3-#5 from 2016-2020.

Decline must mean something completely different to you than it does anyone else.

When someone says decline I always use our decline from 9-10 games a year to barely winning 6-7. So if Clemson wins 9 games again are they still declining according to you?

 

[SugarCC]

When someone says decline I always use our decline from 9-10 games a year to barely winning 6-7. So if Clemson wins 9 games again are they still declining according to you?

Yes.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Yes.

Ok. Like you said our versions of decline are vastly different.

 

[VolInDayton]

Ok. Like you said our versions of decline are vastly different.

Going from a top 3 team for a 5 year period to a top 20 team for a 5 year period is a decline. It would prove that it wasn't a fluke one or two bad years. Even if they maintained 9 win average and 4th best team in the ACC they wouldn't be winning any playoff games.