The Carolina Panthers aren’t opening the door to a quarterback competition, not with Bryce Young in place as their starter. That part of the plan is settled. But if preseason play is the only lens, undrafted rookie Haynes King has made the strongest case of anyone in the room.
King has looked sharper than Young, Kenny Pickett and Kyle Trask, even if all three have done their work in different amounts of playing time and against different levels of competition. None of them has been overwhelmed. Still, in a vacuum, King has been the most impressive of the group.
That buzz really started with the Hall of Fame Game, where King flashed against backups and, to be fair, even backups of backups on a team that is projected to have the number one overall pick in the next draft. It was enough to get people talking about what he might become and whether the Panthers had stumbled onto something real.
Young’s preseason has also been described as partly inauspicious, which only added fuel to the speculation. That said, the idea of King actually pushing for the starting job is a long shot. In truth, there’s almost no chance he becomes an NFL starter.
The historical track record for undrafted quarterbacks is tiny. Only five UDFA passers have gone on to become multi-year starters: Tony Romo, Warren Moon, Jeff Garcia, Dave Krieg, and Kurt Warner.
That’s an elite list, but it also shows just how rare that path is. Every year, a pile of undrafted quarterbacks enter the league, and only those five have been notable enough to start more than one season.
Where King does seem to fit is as a backup, and maybe a useful one. He hasn’t been on the field since that Hall of Fame Game, which is a shame, because he did enough there to suggest he could move ahead of Kenny Pickett as the top reserve. Pickett has been solid too, but King’s ceiling as a backup and possible gadget option gives him real value.
The Panthers are not, and should not be, looking anywhere other than Young at quarterback this year. He’s earned that role, and this is essentially the final season to evaluate the fourth-year passer before his option year in 2027.
Even if King never starts, the Panthers have a reason to keep him around. He could serve as a gadget player or a QB sneak option, and he has enough promise to warrant a roster spot. That matters because Carolina can’t really risk losing him to another team if he ends up on the practice squad.
So while King is not the answer over Young, he has done enough to force a serious roster decision. At minimum, he belongs on the team.
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