Nobody was talking about Haynes King a week ago. Now the undrafted rookie out of Georgia Tech is the guy Adam Schefter is calling a Hall of Fame Game hero, the reason Carolina just added a quarterback nobody expected them to sign, and apparently the centerpiece of a new offensive wrinkle the Panthers want to build around him.
The Carolina Panthers signed Kyle Trask as a third quarterback with Hall-of-Fame game hero Haynes King now expected to miss time with a hamstring injury. https://t.co/CEH6w6h2cc
The injury came on the exact play that made King a name. Panthers coach Dave Canales said King strained his hamstring lunging for the goal line on the game-winning score in Carolina's 33-30 win over Arizona on Thursday night in Canton, Ohio. The stat line before that dive was already loud: 21-of-34 for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air, plus 39 rushing yards and the walk-off score on the ground. King will sit out Saturday's game against Buffalo while the hamstring heals.
So Carolina went out and signed Kyle Trask, a former Buccaneers second-rounder who spent the last 3 seasons in Tampa but has thrown just 11 career NFL passes. It's not a coincidence he landed with the Panthers specifically — Trask has ties to both head coach Dave Canales and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik from their overlapping years with the Buccaneers. He slots in as QB3 behind starter Bryce Young and backup Kenny Pickett, purely camp-arm insurance while King is out.
The more interesting piece of news, though, is what Carolina is reportedly plotting for King once he's back. Per Schefter, the Panthers could deploy King in a Taysom Hill-style role — the kind of gadget-package, do-everything gig Hill turned into a fixture (and a lucrative one) in New Orleans, mixing in as a runner, a red-zone weapon and a change-of-pace passer rather than a strict QB2.
It's an easy comparison to make after what King just did. He's a dual-threat quarterback who can sling it and also finish drives with his legs, and Hill built a decade-long career out of exactly that kind of role — one that lets a team scheme around a player's versatility instead of forcing him to just be a clipboard-holder behind the starter. For an undrafted rookie trying to carve out a roster spot on a team that already has Young and Pickett ahead of him at the traditional QB spots, that kind of specialized role might be the fastest path onto the field.
For now, the hamstring dictates the timeline. Trask gets first crack at reps behind Pickett while King rehabs, and Carolina will find out soon enough whether the Taysom Hill blueprint is a real plan or just an idea born out of one incredible Thursday night in Canton.