Haynes King — QB | Georgia Tech | Redshirt Senior

DynastySignal Scouting Report | 2026 NFL Draft Class

The Short Version

Haynes King is a legitimate dual-threat quarterback with elite completion percentages, confirmed running ability, and a track record of winning under pressure — but he's being evaluated on ACC production at 200 pounds with arm talent that never quite jumps off the tape. The case for him is easy: 71.7% completions, 3,619 total yards, 27 touchdowns in 2025, back-to-back historic efficiency seasons, and a 40-time reportedly in the 4.45 range that makes defensive coordinators miserable. The case against is harder to shake: he's a transfer who struggled at Texas A&M, the frame needs 15–20 pounds to survive NFL contact, and the arm doesn't threaten corners the way elite dual-threats do. For dynasty, you're betting on a player who maximizes his tools and wins games — not a prospect who pops off a spec sheet.

Measurables & Background

| Attribute | Detail |

|---|---|

| Name | Haynes King |

| Position | Quarterback |

| School | Georgia Tech (Yellow Jackets) |

| Previous School | Texas A&M (2021–2022) |

| Class | Redshirt Senior |

| Height | 6-3 |

| Weight | 200 lbs |

| Hometown | Longview, TX |

| High School | Longview HS |

| Reported 40 Time | ~4.45 |

| 2025 Accolades | 2025 ACC Offensive Player of the Year; 10th in Heisman voting |

| Career Transfers | Texas A&M → Georgia Tech (2023) |

Season Summary (2025): 71.7% completion rate, 3,619 total yards, 27 touchdowns responsible for. Georgia Tech reached at least 7-0 in the regular season, beating Syracuse 37–16 behind a 25-of-31, 304-yard, 91-rush-yard, 5-TD performance.

Season Summary (2024): 72.9% completion (196-of-269), 2,114 passing yards, 14 passing TDs, 2 INT, 587 rushing yards, 11 rushing TDs. First NCAA FBS player in 69+ years with 2,000 passing yards, 10 TD passes, 70% completion rate, and ≤2 interceptions in a single season.

Season Summary (2023, first year at Georgia Tech): 2,842 passing yards, 27 TDs, 737 rushing yards, 10 rushing TDs.

Film Sources Reviewed

| Source | Frames | Key Content |

|---|---|---|

| ESPN College Football — FILM BREAKDOWN: Haynes King helps Georgia Tech STAY undefeated vs. Syracuse | 18 (film_001–018) | Schematic Playbook breakdown; route combination analysis; pre-snap reads; red zone sequencing; 2nd/3rd/4th quarter situations vs. Syracuse |

| ACC Digital Network — Haynes King 2025 Regular Season Highlights | 18 (highlights_001–018) | Multi-game season highlight reel; game contexts at Colorado, vs. Clemson, vs. Wake Forest (OT), vs. Virginia Tech, at Duke, vs. Syracuse, at NC State, at Boston College; season stat overlays (71.7% COMP, 3,619 TOT YDS, 27 TDR) |

| ESPN College Football — Georgia Tech QB Haynes King is the COMEBACK KING (ACC Huddle) | 19 (highlights_2_001–019) | Extended feature with in-depth player interview; rushing TD vs. Miami; career timeline dating to 2021 A&M; whiteboard room session; sideline/locker room footage; rivalry game vs. Georgia |

What The Film Shows

1. Arm Talent — **Grade: B**

King's arm is functional and accurate but not a weapon. The ESPN Playbook breakdown (film_003, film_008) illustrates the route combos Georgia Tech runs for him — post/dig combinations, curl-flat reads — and the throws he makes are consistently on time and on platform. He doesn't short-arm it, and he doesn't have a long, loopy delivery; the release is compact and the ball gets out quickly. What you don't see is elite velocity — he's not winning 50/50 deep balls against tight coverage, and the design of Georgia Tech's offense deliberately limits how often he's asked to drive the ball down the field under duress. The Playbook analysis in film_008 specifically highlights how two or more short/intermediate routes are layered to give him a high-percentage answer on every play rather than asking him to thread tight windows. At 200 pounds with a 4.45 build, his arm strength questions are real. You're projecting a B-level arm that can manage a modern offense — not carry it.

2. Accuracy & Touch — **Grade: B+**

This is the legitimate calling card. Back-to-back 70%+ completion seasons — 72.9% in 2024, 71.7% in 2025 — are not flukes in an ACC schedule that included Florida State, Clemson, Colorado, Virginia Tech, NC State and Georgia. The 25-of-31 performance against Syracuse (highlights_013, film_002) shows his ability to sustain accuracy across a full game in a high-pressure, undefeated-season context. Touch on intermediate routes looks clean on the broadcast angles visible in the highlights reel. Red zone efficiency is good — the Playbook breakdown (film_012–016) shows he's executing in compressed space and knows where to go with the ball. The only caveat: the system protects him from the hardest throws. He's not asked to throw into tight windows off-platform at the NFL rate he'd face.

3. Processing & Decision Making — **Grade: B**

The ESPN analysts explicitly chose to break down two specific plays from the Syracuse game (film_003, film_007) because they illustrated King's pre-snap read and post-snap execution. The route diagrams in film_008 — showing a three-route combination with a hot read backside — suggest he understands the structure of the passing game, not just his reads within it. More telling: the whiteboard session in highlights_2_009 shows King drawing up coverages and personnel groupings for what appears to be an NFL pre-draft interview or team visit. He's not stumbling through it; he's leading it. The 2 interceptions in 2024 despite 269 pass attempts is a genuine data point. The caveat: Georgia Tech's offense is by design an efficient, quick-game structure that simplifies reads. How he handles a full NFL playbook with fog-of-war underneath is the question mark. He's smart, but not yet proven at the next complexity level.

4. Mobility & Athleticism — **Grade: A-**

This is where King separates. The reported 4.45 forty is credible on film. Watch highlights_2_002 (scoring TD vs. Miami — outrunning a corner in the open field), highlights_2_007 (clean scramble in an adverse-weather night game), highlights_2_013 (running against Georgia in a rivalry night game), and highlights_2_017 (another burst scramble sequence). His 91 rushing yards against Syracuse (film_002 stat overlay) in a single game, and his career rushing totals — 737 yards as a first-year Yellow Jacket, 587 in 2024 despite a midseason injury — confirm the running game is a real asset. He's not a read-option specialist; he uses his legs to extend plays and punish soft zones. The highlight at highlights_013 (4th-and-1 scramble conversion) shows his instincts as a runner in critical moments. He holds the ball decisively and accelerates immediately through the hole. The concern is that at 200 lbs, he cannot sustain NFL contact if he's taking designed carries and scramble hits on a regular 17-game cadence.

5. Pocket Presence & Toughness — **Grade: B**

The "Comeback King" feature exists because he earned it — multiple fourth-quarter comebacks, a rivalry win at Georgia (highlights_2_013/014), and a full season led while dealing with injury (2024 saw him miss two games and return diminished). Footage of him in the locker room after big wins (highlights_2_016) and tight sideline conversations with his head coach (highlights_2_010) show a player who carries the emotional weight of the quarterback position. He doesn't rattle. What I want to see more of before committing fully: pocket movement under pressure from NFL-caliber edge rushers. The ACC breakdowns show Georgia Tech's line generally giving him clean pockets — when it breaks down, he tends to escape early rather than step into throws. That's partly scheme, partly instinct at a 200-lb body. The toughness is unquestioned. The pocket refinement is still developing.

6. System Fit — **Grade: B-**

King is most comfortable in spread/shotgun concepts with defined pre-snap reads and quick rhythm routes — the same offense that produced his elite completion percentages. He fits best in a modern RPO-heavy, mobile-QB offense: think Seahawks under Pete Carroll, Bengals, or any spread-first coordinator who lets the QB extend plays with his legs. He's less ready for pro-style, under-center, heavy dropback systems where arm strength and pocket patience are the premium currency. The whiteboard footage (highlights_2_009) and his interview composure (highlights_2_003, 006, 011, 015, 019) suggest he can absorb a more complex playbook — but the transition from "ACC spread with RPO concepts" to "NFL playbook with condensed pre-snap windows" is real work. His background at Texas A&M before transferring means he's seen a power-program install before, which helps the football IQ case.

Strengths Summary

Concerns & Risks

NFL Comp

Primary Comp: Gardner Minshew

Both are ACC-tested, completion-rate machines in spread-oriented offenses, with enough mobility to create but not enough arm power to be elite pocket passers. Minshew had the same questions about facing NFL-level coverage, the same "he wins games with efficiency and competitive fire," and the same knock about system dependence. King has better legs and better measurables (6-3 vs. Minshew's 6-1), which is a genuine upgrade. If King lands in the right system with a mobile-QB coordinator, the Minshew comp is a solid floor — winning starts, high completion rate, no killer arm. The ceiling on Minshew's comp is a high-end starter who gets squeezed out when defenses scheme specifically for him.

Secondary Comp: Sam Howell

Like Howell coming out of North Carolina, King is a dual-threat ACC quarterback with elite efficiency numbers, a real but unspectacular arm, and questions about translating to the next level. Howell's NFL journey (Washington starter who got squeezed out) is the cautionary tale for King's ceiling if he doesn't add mass and arm power. The physical tools are similar; King may have a slight edge in raw speed.

Bottom Line

Haynes King is a legitimately impressive football player who maximizes everything he has — accuracy, athleticism, competitive fire, and football IQ — in a system that fits him perfectly. The worry isn't that he's a fraud; it's that his ceiling is limited by arm talent and frame, and the NFL will find those ceilings faster than the ACC did. For dynasty, he's a high-floor mid-round quarterback who can develop into a useful starter if he lands with a mobile-QB offense — think a more athletic version of Baker Mayfield's early career trajectory without quite the arm pop. The floor is a career backup/spot starter; the ceiling in the right offense is a mid-tier starting QB who wins you 8–10 games a year with efficiency and mobility. At Day 2 capital, that's a bet worth taking in the later rounds of dynasty startups.

SCOUT SCORE

Score: 72/100

Projected Pick: R2, Pick 45-65

All-22 Film Update (Feb 2026)

All-22 frames from Georgia Tech's game at Colorado provide a new competitive data point on King's technique — a Power Four road environment that adds useful context to the ACC-heavy evaluation sample.

The Colorado game frames showed King operating Georgia Tech's spread-RPO system from the gun on virtually every snap. His footwork in the shotgun is clean: three-step or five-step drops executed with a consistent rhythm and a compact base at the end. One technical observation from the overhead All-22 view: King's reset weight at the back of his drop is slightly heeled rather than evenly distributed, which can create a fraction of delay getting the front foot planted on throws to the boundary. It's a minor mechanical note but one that NFL QB coaches will address in pre-draft interviews.

The Colorado frames also confirmed his mobility profile more concretely than the ACC highlight reel could. On two visible scramble sequences, King's decision point — the moment he pulled the ball and converted from passer to runner — was quick and decisive. He didn't happy-feet in the pocket waiting for clarity; he identified the rusher's penetration angle and moved immediately and laterally. His acceleration through the escape lane is legitimate, and the Colorado pass rush had difficulty containing the scramble direction.

Pre-snap reads against Colorado showed him identifying the Mike backer and pointing out blitz keys to his line — standard but positive indicators of defensive identification at the line. What the Colorado frames couldn't show was King's performance against an elite pass rush (Colorado's front is functional but not elite), which remains the central question mark for his NFL projection.

Dynasty value impact: The Colorado game frames are confirmatory rather than revelatory. The footwork note is a development point, not a disqualifier. His mobility and pre-snap processing confirm the B grade in both categories from the original report. Score moves slightly from 72 to 74 on the strength of the scramble technique confirmation — the mobility is genuinely translatable to the NFL.

Film Score: 74 / 100

Scout 2 Report: Haynes King, QB, Georgia Tech

The Short Version

Haynes King is no franchise savior, but the ultimate gamer—tough, elusive scrambler with pinpoint short accuracy who drags mediocre GT squads to wins. Contrarian take: Size and arm pop concerns are overblown; he's a poor man's Jalen Hurts ready to thrive in a mobile QB scheme. Day 2 upside ignored by arm-chasers.

Measurables & Background

| Measurable | Value |

|------------------|------------------------|

| Height | 6'2" |

| Weight | 195 lbs |

| Age (2026 Draft) | 23 |

| Class | RS Senior |

| Hometown | Austin, TX |

| Background | Elite HS dual-threat (Evans HS); Texas A&M backup/starter (injured 2023); transferred to GT 2024, led Yellow Jackets to 8+ wins in 2025 with 71% comp, ~3,600 pass yds, 27 total TD. |

Film Sources

| Source | Frames | Duration | Focus |

|--------|--------|----------|-------|

| ESPN Film Breakdown vs Syracuse | film_001 - film_018 | 7:04 | Playbook analysis of 25/30, 91%, 5 TD game keeping GT undefeated |

| ACC Digital Network 2025 Highlights | highlights_001 - highlights_018 | 11:04 | Full season montage showing efficiency, mobility |

| ESPN ACC Huddle Comeback King | highlights_2_001 - highlights_2_019 | 4:02 | Clutch moments, scrambles, celebrations |

Film Analysis

Arm Talent: 7/10 (B) - Functional velocity on intermediates, flashes zip on RPOs (film_007 shows drawn coverage deep post; highlights_003 sideline laser). Lacks elite whip for contested NFL deeps.

Accuracy/Mechanics: 8/10 (A-) - Elite touch on short-to-mid (highlights_001 71% comp overlay; highlights_006 tight window strike). Clean base, rarely sails (highlights_012 OT 2-pt).

Mobility/Athleticism: 8/10 (A-) - Electric change-of-direction scrambler (highlights_2_010 evade sack to scramble; highlights_2_004 designed QB run). 27 total TD includes ~10 rushing.

Pocket Presence: 7/10 (B) - Steps up vs rush well but dances under pressure (film_014 diagram rush escape; highlights_009 climbs pocket before throw).

Processing/Decision-Making: 7/10 (B) - Quick eyes in structure, smart RPO reads (film_011 pre-snap ID; highlights_005 progression dump). Occasional hero ball.

Poise/Clutch: 9/10 (A) - Ice in veins (highlights_2_017 OT winner celebration; highlights_015 comeback vs Clemson). Comes alive late.

Overall Grade: B+

Strengths

Concerns

Dynasty Outlook

Year 1: QB2/spot starter on run-first team (e.g., PIT post-Pickett, BUF backup). Year 2: Committee in mobile scheme. Year 3: QB1 on Shanahan/McVay tree if develops pocket passing. Dynasty value: Mid RB1 stash with RB2 floor.

NFL Comp

Bottom Line

King's a gritty, mobile compiler overlooked for flashier traits—he'll outproduce draft slot as Day 2 starter in the right system. Bet on the tape over measurables.

SCOUT SCORE

Score: 84/100

Projected Pick: R2, Pick 45-55

Film Score: 84 / 100