Haynes King on competing for the starting QB job: "Competition makes everybody better"

King is competing for the starting job with Zach Pyron and Zach Gibson

Haynes King started his college career at Texas A&M but transferred to Georgia Tech this offseason to compete for the starting quarterback job. King started multiple games in the SEC for A&M, including a near upset of Alabama last season, but chose to enter the portal and then continue his career in Atlanta. 

Despite coming in through the transfer portal, King is not being handed the starting job. Zach Pyron and Zach Gibson are pushing for the starting job as well. King spoke with the media yesterday and talked about the competition and how it is making everyone in that quarterback room better:

"It is great. All of us, we are tight, closely bonded. All of the locker room, I feel like we can talk to anybody and have a conversation with anybody and that bond between all of us is really smooth. We are really close and that makes it better and just having a good QB room is going to upgrade and that competition level is just going to be out the roof and it makes everyone better, competition makes everybody better because you know you are going to get the best from them and they are going to get the best from you and then it just raises everybody else around you, with the receivers, with the tight ends, the running backs and heck even the defense because nobody wants to lose and we are trying to start that mentality here where we hate losing and that is the deal. So I feel like everything is improving in that direction"

Haynes King is competing for the starting quarterback position at Georgia Tech / Georgia Tech Athletics

Last season, King played 327 snaps according to PFF (Pro Football Focus), and finished with a grade of 53.4, a 48.6 passing grade, and a 71.6 rushing grade. He is an athletic player with a strong arm and it is a fair question to wonder if Texas A&M's offense was holding King back the last couple of seasons.

King is a former four-star recruit for the Aggies and won the starting job twice. His 2021 season was cut short after being injured early in the season. He started this season off as the starter but was benched after Texas A&M was upset by App State. He did return as the starter and had his best game on the road against Alabama, a game in which he threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns.

This is expected to be a close competition for the starting job and both head coach Brent Key and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner have said that no decision is coming soon: 

"With the quarterback situation, we have a great battle between three guys that have college experience, college game experience, big-time game experience. We are as fortunate as any team in the country in terms of the depth we have at that position and right now it is a lot of installation and a lot of routes on air, those kinds of things, getting timing down.

Like I have said before, it is different when you have the helmets on and the cleats as opposed in the summer and doing 7-on-7's. Every day is an evaluation of those guys, how they do in team periods, how they do off the field, how they transition from one play to the other. We have a good thing to have right now and that is experience and that is probably the same answer that I am going to give for the next three weeks. Don't plan on an announcement coming anytime soon"

Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner has echoed that:

"With the quarterback situation, we have a great battle between three guys that have college experience, college game experience, big-time game experience. We are as fortunate as any team in the country in terms of the depth we have at that position and right now it is a lot of installation and a lot of routes on air, those kinds of things, getting timing down.

Like I have said before, it is different when you have the helmets on and the cleats as opposed in the summer and doing 7-on-7's. Every day is an evaluation of those guys, how they do in team periods, how they do off the field, how they transition from one play to the other. We have a good thing to have right now and that is experience and that is probably the same answer that I am going to give for the next three weeks. Don't plan on an announcement coming anytime soon"

Georgia Tech kicks off its season on Sept. 1st against Louisville at 7:30 on ESPN. 

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