Key Tennessee Vols commit continues to be the victim of ridiculous recruiting narrative

When 2025 quarterback George MacIntyre committed to the Tennessee Vols in January, he was a five-star recruit who was rated by 247Sports as the No. 9 overall player in the nation.

MacIntyre hasn't played in an actual game since January (though he did play in a scrimmage last week), but that didn't stop 247Sports from dropping him all the way to No. 69 overall in their rankings this summer .

Earlier this week, Rivals.com became the latest recruiting service to drop MacIntyre in their rankings, dropping the Tennessee commit 86 spots all the way to No. 125.

This is the most absurd thing about recruiting.

MacIntyre's high school season ended last winter, he then committed in January, and now he's dropped this far in the rankings? Based on what? Because he hasn't participated in recruiting camp stops?

That's nonsense (as are those pointless camps).

MacIntyre and the rest of the players in the 2025 class shouldn't be judged on what happens at a camp in the spring/summer. That camp performance is completely irrelevant to how a player will actually perform when the lights come on. They should only be judged based on their performance during their actual high school season. That's when you find out what kind of competitor a player is.

Give me the guy who competes his tail off for his team during the season over the camp standout every time. That's the guy you want leading a program. And I think that's who MacIntyre is as a player. It's unfortunate that he continues to see his recruiting ranking drop all because he isn't a camp darling.

But the good news for MacIntyre and Tennessee is that those recruiting rankings have zero to do with how a player will perform at the collegiate level. They're nothing more than entertainment for fans.

Related: Former Vols OC Alex Golesh gets candid about taking over a tough situation at Tennessee in 2021