Tennessee Football has a chance to hit a major home run in the 2026 recruiting class on Saturday.
Five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon is set to announce his college commitment on Saturday, Aug. 3, on the 247sports YouTube channel. Brandon is set to choose between Alabama, LSU, NC State, and Tennessee.
Brandon is ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in 247sports’ 2026 rankings. The blue-chip quarterback holds a five-star ranking according to 247 and a four-star ranking according to On3, ESPN, and Rivals. 247’s Composite Rankings have Brandon as the No. 30 player in the class, the No. 4 quarterback in the nation, and the No. 3 player from the state of North Carolina.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel emphasized the importance of recruiting North Carolina before the Vols opened up fall camp on Wednesday.
“It is important for us,” Heupel said of The Tar Heel State. “It’s a border state. We continue or we believe, look at it, view it as a part of our footprint. We’re intentional in how we recruit that state.”
Tennessee has been strongly trending ahead of Brandon’s commitment announcement on Saturday. The Vols currently hold all three Crystal Ball predictions from 247 Sports with two being from NC State beat writers and one being from 247 national recruiting analyst Tom Loy.
Loy is 6-for-6 in his 2026 predictions so far, which can draw optimism from Tennessee fans.
Additionally, Tennessee also holds the overwhelming advantage on On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine. On3’s service has Tennessee leading the pack at 94.0 percent with NC State following in second at just 2.3 percent. NC State’s low percentage with On3 combined with two NC State beat writers predicting Tennessee continues the optimism while looking around.
As always, though, it’s important to remember that no prediction or percentage is a guarantee of what will happen. Anything can happen in the college football world, but all signs do point to Tennessee being in a great position to land 247’s top overall 2026 prospect.
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The 6-foot-3.5, 197-pound quarterback is a tremendous quarterback that Tennessee is eager to have on campus. Brandon is a multi-sport athlete with experience as a basketball player, too. Brandon recorded 10.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game at the midpoint of his last basketball season.
On the gridiron, though, Brandon led his team to a 13-1 record during his first year as a starter. The sophomore quarterback led Grimsley High School to the quarterfinals of North Carolina’s 4A playoffs but lost to 1-seed Weddington 44-27. Brandon tallied 231 yards and one passing touchdown on 21-of-33 passing in the loss. Grimsley dominated their first three playoff opponents 54-0, 56-24, and 42-35.
In total, Brandon recorded 3,026 yards, 36 touchdowns, and just three interceptions on 191-of-277 (69%) passing during his 2023 sophomore season. Brandon will be entering his second starting season during his junior year in 2024, getting his commitment out of the way before he steps onto the field for a game.
“Accurate to the numbers, and has found plenty of success attacking the intermediate level, but deep ball placement can be a bit uneven,” 247 director of scouting Andrew Ivins evaluated of Brandon in April. “Effective on designed runs with his acceleration and his natural twitch in both the upper and lower halves is ideal for run-pass options. Certainly benefited from throwing to a pair of Power Four wide receivers in his first year as a starter, but game tape shows a potential game-breaker at the next level that’s just starting to scratch the surface of what he could be, especially when you factor that he’s younger for the grade.”
Tennessee’s attempt to land a commitment from Brandon comes on the heels of a huge recruiting heater this summer. The Vols have landed 11 commitments since the start of June with seven of those prospects boasting a four-star rating on 247’s services. Tennessee is also hoping to land five-star offensive tackle and No. 2 overall prospect David Sanders Jr. in mid-August.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider on Saturday for more on the commitment of five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon.
