Matt Hasselbeck on Tyler Huntley: “There’s something special about him”

Former Utah QB Tyler Huntley has drawn a lot of attention with his play for the Baltimore Ravens this year while filling in for an injured Lamar Jackson. In 6 games, Huntley racked up 940 passing yards with a 67.5% completion rate, three touchdowns, two interceptions. He also has gained 222 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. His 57.6 QBR would be good for ninth-best in the NFL, ahead of players such as Joe Burrow, Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, and Dak Prescott, among others.

Commentators and evaluators across the country have begun to notice what Ute fans have known all along. Tyler Huntley is special. Over his career at Utah, Huntley put up 8,555 yards of total offense and 63 total touchdowns. However, in Huntley’s breakout senior season, he put it all together, passing for 3,092 yards, 19 touchdowns, four interceptions, with an additional 290 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Matt Hasselbeck, the 3x Pro Bowl quarterback, has a weekly radio appearance on The Mike Salk Show on 710 AM ESPN Seattle. On Wednesday, they were talking about the state of the quarterback market. Hasselbeck spoke about how every team is always looking for the next franchise quarterback and trying to find “the diamond in the rough.”

Hasselbeck didn’t mince words about which guy he thinks is that diamond in the rough.

“To me, the guy that I love, he’s probably on nobody’s list, is the backup quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens. I think Tyler Huntley, kid out of Utah, I think he’s got something special. Now, he’s raw and he needs to be coached. He’s been coached. I think he’s a heck of a player. I’m not saying he’s for the Seahawks necessarily at all, but for teams that are looking for a quarterback that you don’t have to go out and pay millions, and millions, and millions of dollars for. I think he’s got an opportunity.”

When pressed about if the Ravens would be open to trading Huntley, he insisted they should be.

“...they are so banged up all over the place, no RB, no secondary, they’re not getting the pass rush. They’ve got problems. A backup QB is a luxury. People will pay for a QB, a starting type QB. To me, Tyler Huntley, there’s something special about him.”

When asked what specifically he liked about Tyler Huntley, Hasselbeck expanded on what he felt made Huntley so special.

“He’s a really, really strong pocket passer. Really strong. He’s 23 years old and I don’t know how he slid under the radar... I love everything about him. I’m not saying he’s ready to go, but if you’re looking for a QB, if it were me, I’d be taking him and his film to my scouts, to my QB coach, to my coordinators, and saying “Hey, grade this guy, tell me what you think”. I have graded him. I graded him in the month of December. In the month of December, this is before last game, he had 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, he ran for 2 more touchdowns. The only quarterback in the entire NFL who had a better QBR than Tyler Huntley was Aaron Rodgers.”

Matt Hasselbeck has taken notice of Tyler Huntley, and he is not the only one. This season, Huntley’s performance all but guarantees that the Ravens will receive calls about him. For now, Utah fans will have to wait and see if any team likes what they’ve seen enough to meet whatever asking price the Ravens put on him this off-season.