'26 NC QB Faizon Brandon (Tennessee commit)

[VOLLeeann]

Merk in next years portal...or this years but he's toast

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Merk in next years portal...or this years but he's toast

Nope. Merk is the next starter after Nico

 

[T2P_Priceless]

This guy is good but not a UT fan


This guy IS a diehard UT fan, and does film breakdown on recruits and opponents. He is good, but doesnt always do an All 22 beeakdown. Some of his videos will have All22 written in blue at the bottom of the screen but not in the title.

Brooks Austin is excellent at film study. The other guy is ok but misses a lot of details and is very bias. Doesn’t show enough criticism

 

[VolMike16]

Brooks Austin is excellent at film study. The other guy is ok but misses a lot of details and is very bias. Doesn’t show enough criticism

Lol because he doesn't hide that he's a UT fan. It's basically a UT fan channel. If you want criticism don't follow a homer

 

[marcusluvsvols]

Brooks Austin is excellent at film study. The other guy is ok but misses a lot of details and is very bias. Doesn’t show enough criticism

Agree 100% brooks is the best film breakdown on FBS, he actually played college ball too which helps. Sadly he is also a UGA homer to the point that he is allowed at their press conferences for football at least. I still thoroughly enjoy when he does UT game tape, and like him
Just hate the pups...

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

Not according to the almighty @Dobbs 4 Heisman . I think Curtis will be good but I agree. I think Brandon is gonna be truly special here. He may be the kost physically gifted passer we have had in a long time.

I actually never compared Brandon and Curtis. I only said Curtis was better than George MacIntyre from the 2025 class. My argument was to pass on MacIntyre and go all in on Curtis cause I wasn't impressed by MacIntyre and thought Curtis would be a stud.

I never saw a single highlight of Brandon when I made that take. Now that's I've seen Brandon play I'm obviously happy we have him instead of Curtis. But at the time I made that argument it was about MacIntyre vs Curtis.

 

[Deathandtaxes]

I got flamed for saying this dude was better than GMac…. Well… looks like I was right.

 

[marcusluvsvols]

Oh I definitely think Faizon is as talented as Nico, Merk, or any QB we've had coming out of HS. He can spin it, throws a beaitiful ball and is a good athlete. There's a reason he is ranked no1 QB in next years class. Got to give a lot of credit to CJH and staff...for getting a good relationship with Brandon very early on as well as recruiting the QB position at the highest possible level in FBS. To land 4 straight Elite 11 Caliber QBs and Nico and Faizon both be ranked top in their classes is remarkable. Our QB room is elite and looks to stay elite for the foreseeable future. It can't hurt that Heupel is a decorated Championship winning QB himself. Thats an edge he has over other coaches at playoff programs. I am very thankful for CJH and his staff.

 

[butchna]

I actually never compared Brandon and Curtis. I only said Curtis was better than George MacIntyre from the 2025 class. My argument was to pass on MacIntyre and go all in on Curtis cause I wasn't impressed by MacIntyre and thought Curtis would be a stud.

I never saw a single highlight of Brandon when I made that take. Now that's I've seen Brandon play I'm obviously happy we have him instead of Curtis. But at the time I made that argument it was about MacIntyre vs Curtis.

And IF we end up getting BOTH GMac and Brandon, you’ll concede you were udderly wrong?

 

[allvolrecruiting]

Brooks is at Georgia pressers bc he covers them for SI

 

[Orange_Crush]

My bad man. Should have worded that differently. Fwiw, my intention in my original post wasnt that Nico was as good as anyone in the country in 2024. He definitely wasn't as a RS Freshman.Clearly, Nico was not as good as several QBs last year most notably Ward IMO. I intended to say that QB is the 1 position that UT is set for the future and I believe we have a better QB room than anyone in the country. I think Nico is gonna be great in 25 and 26, and between Jake, Gmac, and Faizon i think we will have the best QB room in the nation through probably 2028? Maybe longer depending on who comes in after Faizon. Sorry about the confusion there. The only question I have regarding our QBs is who tranfers between Jake and Gmac. I think Jake wins that battle long term, and Gmac tranfers. I could certainly be totally wrong though.

The context of your wording had me reading it as Nico's ceiling, the backups in the room, and our current QB recruiting...

 

[Volnut]

Oh no, is he saying Go Voles?

 

[Orange_Crush]

Lol because he doesn't hide that he's a UT fan. It's basically a UT fan channel. If you want criticism don't follow a homer

I think that was kind of the point.

 

[rockytop25]

 

[Orange_Crush]

Quick feet. Smooth, effortless release.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

And IF we end up getting BOTH GMac and Brandon, you’ll concede you were udderly wrong?

Wrong about what? I never saw Faizon play at the time. If I did I would have been all for getting both. Remember Brandon was not highly rated at the time I made these arguments. The perception was he was a backup option to Curtis. Kudos to Huepel and the staff for the great early evaluation on Brandon as he's now the #1 QB in the class. The only reason I was high on Curtis and low on GMac was because I saw them play on local TV here in Nashville. Obviously because Faizon is from North Carolina I didn't have access to his games on local TV so I had no way of knowing how good he was compared to Curtis.

But at the time we all thought Jared Curtis was the number one option because he was the local superstar 5-star prospect that we had to have. GMac was also a 5-star. My argument was its not common to land 5-stars in consecutive classes so we should prioritize Curtis over GMac cause I felt GMac was overrated after watching him play. While I thought Curtis was a stud after watching him. History has proven me right on this as GMac fell down the rankings his senior year while Curtis is still highly touted.

 

[butchna]

Wrong about what? I never even knew Faizon was an option. If I did I would have been all for getting both. But at the time we all thought Jared Curtis was the number one option because he was the local superstar 5-star prospect that we had to have. GMac was also a 5-star. My argument was its not common to land 5-stars in consecutive classes so we should prioritize Curtis over GMac cause I felt GMac was overrated after watching him play. While I thought Curtis was a stud after watching him. History has proven me right on this as GMac fell down the rankings his senior year while Curtis is still highly touted.

Remember Brandon was not highly rated at the time I made these arguments. The perception was he was a backup option to Curtis. Kudos to Huepel and the staff for the great early evaluation on Brandon as he's now the #1 QB in the class. The only reason I was high on Curtis and low on GMac was because I saw them play on local TV here in Nashville. Obviously because Faizon is from North Carolina I didn't have access to his games on local TV so I had no way of knowing how good he was compared to Curtis.

Skipping a QB in a RECRUITING CLASS to mitigate the risk of missing out on another QB that YOU identified as the answer in the following class? Was that the right call? It’s ok…we know. You get yourself in these binds because you NEVER wait to bloviate. Didn’t exactly withdraw your edict when Brandon was identified as the target in 26 by AP, did you?

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Quick feet. Smooth, effortless release.

This dudes potential is absolutely off the chain. If we can get some good WRs and OL for him, look out.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

Skipping a QB in a RECRUITING CLASS to mitigate the risk of missing out on another QB that YOU identified as the answer in the following class? Was that the right call? It’s ok…we know. You get yourself in these binds because you NEVER wait to bloviate. Didn’t exactly withdraw your edict when Brandon was identified as the target in 26 by AP, did you?

Even schools like Georgia do that. One of the reasons Curtis committed to Georgia earlier this cycle is because they didn't have another highly touted QB committed in the class before him. I never said skip a QB entirely. Just that 5-star QBs typically don't like to follow other 5-star QBs in the class just ahead of them. So what the smartest programs do is get an underrated but capable QB in the class before they swing for the fences with a elite 5-star like Curtis.

My argument was that Curtis is way better than GMac so why decrease your shot with an elite prospect like Curtis by getting a highly ranked (but overrated) prospect like GMac in the class ahead of him. The good thing for us is by the time we got Brandon his rating began to soar while GMac's began to dip.

 

[MarcoVol]

Even schools like Georgia do that. One of the reasons Curtis committed to Georgia earlier this cycle is because they didn't have another highly touted QB committed in the class before him. I never said skip a QB entirely. Just that 5-star QBs typically don't like to follow other 5-star QBs in the class just ahead of them. So what the smartest programs do is get an underrated but capable QB in the class before they swing for the fences with a elite 5-star like Curtis.

My argument was that Curtis is way better than GMac so why decrease your shot with an elite prospect like Curtis by getting a highly ranked (but overrated) prospect like GMac in the class ahead of him. The good thing for us is by the time we got Brandon his rating began to soar while GMac's began to dip.

The smartest programs will try to get the very best QB possible in every class. Especially now.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

The smartest programs will try to get the very best QB possible in every class. Especially now.

Best versus highly rated are different things. I agree they try to get the best every cycle. But most understand that 5-star QBs don't like to follow other 5-star QBs in the class right ahead of them. So the smartest schools prioritize the 5-star they want in the two classes and then target a talented but not quite as highly rated QB in the other class.

 

[butchna]

Even schools like Georgia do that. One of the reasons Curtis committed to Georgia earlier this cycle is because they didn't have another highly touted QB committed in the class before him. I never said skip a QB entirely. Just that 5-star QBs typically don't like to follow other 5-star QBs in the class just ahead of them. So what the smartest programs do is get an underrated but capable QB in the class before they swing for the fences with a elite 5-star like Curtis.

My argument was that Curtis is way better than GMac so why decrease your shot with an elite prospect like Curtis by getting a highly ranked (but overrated) prospect like GMac in the class ahead of him. The good thing for us is by the time we got Brandon his rating began to soar while GMac's began to dip.

And now he DECOMMITTED from them…sound strategy.

Best programs get a QB every class. They don’t listen to message board geniuses who don’t do it for a living…even MORE sound strategy.

 

[butchna]

Best versus highly rated are different things. I agree they try to get the best every cycle. But most understand that 5-star QBs don't like to follow other 5-star QBs in the class right ahead of them. So the smartest schools prioritize the 5-star they want in the two classes and then target a talented but not quite as highly rated QB in the other class.

Georgia and Bama piled 5 star QB class after class…same as Ohio State. There is no “most”. You’re doing your contrived fiction again.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

Didn’t exactly withdraw your edict when Brandon was identified as the target in 26 by AP, did you?

No cause I never saw him play. I saw Curtis play which is why I was sold on him. And I saw GMac play which is why I said he was overrated. After it became obvious we were gonna land Brandon I watched his highlights and liked what I saw. Ultimately Huepel and the staff made the right choice. I like Brandon even more than Curtis. But when we I made those posts it was just about Curtis vs GMac. And guess what? I was right about GMac being overrated as he started to plummet down the rankings soon after.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

Georgia and Bama piled 5 star QB class after class…same as Ohio State. There is no “most”. You’re doing your contrived fiction again.

False. In 2017 Bama got 5-star Tua and didn't land another 5-star QB till Bryce Young in 2020. Then Ty Simpson in 2022. Then Julian Sayin in 2024 (who transferred to Ohio State). And now Keelon Russell in 2025. Georgia got 5-star Jacob Eason in 2016. Then Justin Fields in 2018. Both were beat out by 4-star Jake Fromm which is why they transferred. Georgia hasn't landed a composite 5-star QB since. The closest was Brock Vandergriff in 2021 who was a high 4-star who eventually transferred as well.

So the idea that schools like Bama and Georgia are landing 5-star QBs every cycle is pure fantasy. The best you can hope for is a 5-star QB every other year. Huepel has actually recruited the QB position better than almost everyone by landing Nico and Faizon is a 3 year span as top 5 overall players. That's usually the best you can hope for.

Stacking 5-star QBs year after year has never been a thing.