Texas A&M Football: Why Athlon ranked QB Haynes King so low

The Texas A&M football team has a quarterback competition raging on. With three eligible passers, it feels like this battle is neck and neck. While Aggie fans think Max Johnson might be the leading contender, national media seems to think it’ll be Haynes King.

Even though the Aggie quarterback won the competition last season, he’s far from the starter in 2022. King’s best claim to start will be his experience as the team’s starter, even if it was cut short with an injury last year. He knows the system better than any other eligible player, so it’s not unrealistic to say that he could be the starter.

Earlier this week, Athlon Sports ranked each SEC starting quarterback, assuming Haynes King as the Aggies’ passer.

Why did Athlon Sports rank Haynes King among the worst 2022 starters in the SEC?

Athlon Sports‘ Steve Lassan did state that Haynes King was poised for a 2021 breakout before the injury, but did not rank him favorably in this article. So what factors led to this undesirable ranking? To start, take a look at Lassan’s (very short) description detailing his reasoning behind this ranking.

"There’s upside with King, but he has only one career start and could be pushed by Max Johnson and Conner Weigman this offseason."

Short, but right to the point. In fact, I’d make the argument that King isn’t even the frontrunner at all. Because he began in 2020 at Texas A&M, King technically could still be in College Station for four more seasons. His freshman year did not count toward his eligibility, while he could potentially redshirt if he does not win the starting job.

That said, he won’t want to wait behind Max Johnson. I say all this to make the simple point — King is not guaranteed to be the starter next season. There’s no rush for Jimbo Fisher, who will simply select the best quarterback.

And that, in itself, is the reason why King is so low on this list. How can a quarterback who may not even be considered the best on his own team be considered the best in the SEC. It’s not so much an insult to his skill — rather a reaction to the circumstances.