This was an easy one!
In year 2 under Brent Key, Georgia Tech’s offense returns a large majority of its starters. Most notably, quarterback Haynes King returns a year older and a year wiser in Buster Faulkner’s offense.
This year, he could definitively prove himself to be the best quarterback in Georgia Tech history.
Logan wrote last week about how King could find himself in Heisman contention this season. Now, I want to take it a step further and pose this question: What does Haynes King need to do to be the best quarterback in Georgia Tech history?
Numbers
When talking about Georgia Tech quarterbacks, there’s one name that generally floats to the top of the list: Joe Hamilton. Georgia Tech’s radio color commentary broadcaster and former quarterback and Hesiman runner-up is generally considered the best quarterback in Georgia Tech history. There are some others who are in contention, like Justin Thomas, George Godsey, and Shawn Jones, to name a few.
In just his first season, King nearly matched the numbers that Hamilton put up in his best season. Another year in with some more comfortability and confidence under his belt, and I expect King to surpass those numbers this season.
Winning the ACC
Being a great quarterback doesn’t just mean putting up a lot of numbers. You can put up a lot of numbers and still not be on a good team. Great quarterbacks lift up the players around them. Georgia Tech hasn’t won the ACC since 2009 (the NCAA be [Steely Dan]ed), and if King’s performance can lift the performance of those around him, Georgia Tech will be in contention before King’s time on the Flats is done.
By winning the ACC, King will done what only two other quarterbacks have done at Georgia Tech: be the undisputed ACC champions (Joe Hamilton’s ‘98 Yellow Jackets shared the ACC title with Florida State).
Beat the dwags
Last (and most important in some people’s eyes) is that Haynes King needs to beat UGA. Now, this is a lot easier said than done. UGA is consistently one of the best teams in the entire country, and beating them is not going to be a walk in the park. At the same time, though, Georgia Tech came a lot closer to beating them last year than anyone expected or had seen in quite some time.
With a new look defense and some improvements on offense, we could see that next step be taken. This is probably a longshot, but if you told me how last year’s game was going to go, I wouldn’t have believed you then either.
If, by the end of the season, King has done even just two of these things, I think we can end the conversation and crown him the King of Georgia Tech quarterbacks.