Faizon Brandon

Physical Profile

Listed at 6-4, 225 lbs. Taller than 80% and heavier than 95% of 2026 Quarterback prospects in the SEC Scouts database (128 with a listed size).

Play Style

He is a pocket-first dual threat. He wins mainly from the pocket with timing throws and good ball placement on intermediate in-breakers and seams, and he uses his legs for designed runs and to extend broken plays instead of scrambling first. In HS he rarely forced balls into coverage and took the checkdown instead. In Heupel's wide-split tempo offense he has been effective on pre-snap reads, RPO give/keep decisions and vertical shots off play action. Like most true freshmen, his efficiency drops when his first read is taken away.

Strengths

• He protects the football. In HS he threw about one interception per 98 attempts (79 TD over his career, 35 TD and 2 INT as a junior). He has 0 INT through his first three college games, including a road win at Georgia Tech.
• He throws accurately in rhythm. He completed 77.1% as a junior (165-214, 2,814 yards) and went 13-of-17 for 226 yards and 3 TD in his college debut against Furman.
• He is a real threat as a runner. His Furman line of 3 pass TD plus 2 rush TD made him the first SEC player to do that in a debut since Cam Newton in 2010. He has 3 rushing TD through three games, which makes him a factor in Heupel's RPO and QB-run red-zone plays.
• He wins. He went 35-1 as a HS starter with two NCHSAA state titles (MVP of both title games) and won NC Gatorade Player of the Year and NC Mr. Football. He beat out a veteran for the job in his first fall camp.

Areas to Improve

• He needs to be more efficient when the defense takes away his first read. At Georgia Tech he went 10-of-21 for 145 yards. On third-and-long and against disguised coverages, his completion rate falls off from his rhythm-throw numbers, which is normal for an 18-year-old but is the main thing to fix.
• He needs to protect himself. He has had throwing-hand and shoulder injuries in consecutive seasons, so he has to learn to slide and get out of bounds, and to trust the checkdown before taking a hit. That matters more because he is a big quarterback whose running is part of the offense.
• His SEC processing speed is still developing. He started 0-1 against top-10 teams with the 17-20 loss to No. 1 Texas, and the next step is protection checks and post-snap reads against elite pressure packages.

College Projection

He is already the starter, so the question is how long he stays in the job, not when he gets it. Barring injury he projects as a 3-year starter at Tennessee. Year 1 should be an efficient season with low turnovers and some growing pains against the top half of the SEC schedule. By Year 2 he should be a top-tier SEC starter as his processing catches up to his physical tools. Staying healthy is the biggest variable, given his thumb (2025) and shoulder (2026) injuries.

NFL Outlook

His NFL ceiling is first-round. He has the size (6-4/225+), arm talent, accuracy, ball security and a track record of winning. He is first draft-eligible after the 2028 season. His stock depends on showing he can make full-field progressions against SEC-level defenses and on staying healthy.

Best Fit

Tennessee under Josh Heupel is close to ideal. Its tempo, RPO-heavy, vertical offense built on wide splits uses his pre-snap accuracy, deep ball and running in the red zone, and it simplifies reads while he is young. Longer term, his pocket traits carry over to any pro-style or West Coast system, which is why his NFL projection doesn't depend on the scheme.