Tennessee football redshirt freshman George MacIntyre is the 49th best starting quarterback in college football entering spring practice, according to ESPN’s Bill Connelly. 

The ESPN college football analyst earlier this month ranked all 68 Power 4 starting quarterbacks in college football, with MacIntyre slotting in at No. 49 while he takes over for Joey Aguilar. 

“He’ll have to fend off five-star freshman Faizon Brandon,” Connelly wrote, “but MacIntyre was a four-star himself and spent the past year learning the ins and outs of the system.”

‘The odds are always good that a Josh Heupel QB will produce’

MacIntyre appeared in two games as Tennessee’s third quarterback last season. He competed 7 of 9 passes for 69 yards in appearances against East Tennessee State and New Mexico State, playing behind Aguilar and his backup, Jake Merklinger.

“The odds are always good that a Josh Heupel QB will produce,” Connelly wrote. “Over the past five years, the Vols’ starters have averaged 3,015 yards and 24 TDs per year with a 67% completion rate, and the last time they started a freshman (Nico Iamaleava in 2023), they made the CFP.”

MacIntyre was a four-star prospect in the 2025 Rivals Industry Ranking, ranked No. 193 overall, No. 15 at quarterback and No. 3 in the state of Tennessee, out of Brentwood Academy in Nashville.

Notre Dame’s CJ Carr was Connelly’s No. 1 starting quarterback, ahead of Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss, Texas QB Arch Manning and USC’s Jayden Maiava.

18 starting quarterbacks ranked behind George MacIntyre

There were 18 quarterbacks (or quarterback situations) ranked behind MacIntyre: No. 50 Michael Hawkins Jr. (West Virginia); No. 51 Jaylen Raynor (Iowa State); No. 52 Christopher Vizzina (Clemson); No. 53 Lincoln Kienholz (Louisville); No. 54 JC French IV (Cincinnati); No. 55 Jaden Craig (TCU); No. 56 Billy Edwards Jr. (North Carolina); No. 57 Aidan Chiles (Northwestern); No. 58 KJ Jackson or AJ Hill (Arkansas); No. 59 Jared Curtis (Vanderbilt); No. 60 Dylan Longergan (Rutgers); No. 61 Gio Lopez (Wake Forest); No. 62 Julian Lewis (Colorado); No. 63 Mason McKenize (Boston College), No. 64 Alessio Milivojevic (Michigan State); No. 65 Jeremy Hecklinski or Hank Brown (Iowa); No. 66 Cole Ballard (Kansas); No. 67 Ryan Browne (Purdue); No. 68 Davis Warren (Stanford).

Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who transferred to UCLA last April, was ranked No. 39 overall by Connelly entering his second season with the Bruins. 

He threw for 1,928 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions last season. 

“In two years,” Connelly wrote, “Iamaleava has learned everything you need to know about supporting casts. He rode a great run game and near-elite defense to a CFP bid at Tennessee in 2024, then found little support and crashed on a 3-9 UCLA team. 

“The former five-star prospect runs well when he chooses to (and will always take far too many sacks), and new Bruins coach Bob Chesney has drastically improved the skill corps around him. That should mean Iamaleava improves as well.”