Tennessee quarterback commit Faizon Brandon began his junior season at Grimsley High School with a win. Brandon’s Grimsley Whirlies defeated the Mount Tabor Spartans 34-12 in a non-conference game on Friday night.
Brandon, 247Sports’ No. 1 overall prospect in the 2026 class, could be seen wearing a Tennessee wristband during the season-opening win. The Tennessee commit also sported a Vols script sticker on the back of his helmet throughout the game. The helmet logo is the same logo that has been on Tennessee Baseball’s orange jerseys.
5⭐️ QB and Tennessee commit Faizon Brandon (@faizon_brandon) warming up with the Tennessee wristbands and helmet decal👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/PDzYzSGSnB
— Rivals (@Rivals) August 23, 2024
While statistics aren’t readily available following the game, Rivals National Recruiting Analyst Sam Spiegelman said on social media that the Tennessee commit had been “surgical” throughout the game with an accompanying video of Brandon completing a key fourth-and-seven.
Faizon Brandon has been surgical tonight. Here’s a fourth-and-7 completion to 2026 TE DJ Howerton. Moving the sticks and sustaining drives all nighthttps://t.co/r1VUVqPxIM pic.twitter.com/H7x3eXOP3g
— Sam Spiegelman (@samspiegs) August 24, 2024
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Rivals recruiting insider Shayne Pickering posted a video of Brandon completing a “very important” third down, connecting with his tight end over the middle of the field. As Pickering notes in his post, it’s a tactic that Tennessee found success with in 2022 and something that should be much more prevalent in 2024 with the Vols’ revamped tight ends room featuring Ethan Davis, Miles Kitselman, and Holden Staes.
When Tennessee’s offense was at its best in 2022, they were able to attack the middle of the field, especially with tight ends up the seam as they got around the red zone
Faizon Brandon showed an example of that on this play tonight to convert a very important third down https://t.co/FUb6pxxY6a pic.twitter.com/G7UKn0GZ2C
— Shayne Pickering (@shaynep_media) August 24, 2024
Brandon committed to Tennessee on Aug. 3 to give the Vols their first player in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Brandon made his commitment to Tennessee prior to his junior season at Grimsley after leading the Whirlies to the North Carolina 4A State quarterfinals as just a sophomore.
The 6-foot-3.5, 197-pound quarterback tallied 3,026 yards, 36 touchdowns, and three interceptions on 191-of-277 passing during his 2023 season.
While Brandon is ranked as 247’s No. 1 overall prospect, the organization’s composite rankings have the Tennessee commit as a five-star prospect, the No. 8 player in the class, the No. 2 quarterback in the class, and the top player from the state of North Carolina.
