Ravens backup QB Tyler Huntley goes off with 5-TD performance against Washington

Lamar Jackson is obviously the Ravens’ starting quarterback, and he’s going to sign a monster new deal based on that sooner than later, but it’s always good to have a Plan B at the game’s most important position should something go outside the box in a bad way.

Not that Tyler Hunley is THE answer, but he proved to be AN answer against the Washington Football Team on Saturday. In a 37-3 win, Huntley looked better than he’s ever looked in his short NFL career, and perhaps better than he ever did in college.

The second-year undrafted free agent from Utah was a checkdown artist in his first two preseason games, completing 36 of 50 passes for 266 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. He attempted four passes of 10-19 air yards, completing two and throwing that one pick. For whatever reason, the training wheels came off against Washington, and all of a sudden, Huntley was making bang-on throws all over the place. In the end, he completed 24 of 33 passes for 285 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 138.3.

He also contributed 14 yards and a rushing touchdown on six carries. Anytime you can make yourself responsible for five touchdowns in a sinngle game, and you’re looking to cement your place as a backup on the roster… well, that’s pretty decent.

“We really felt good about him last year,” Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman said of Huntley earlier this week. “He’s a young guy. The more experience he gets, the better off he’ll be, because there’s nothing like real football. He has gotten tons of experience this training camp. So, we’ve gotten a much better feel for him. Everybody is working on things to improve at all times – that’s a never-ending chase. But Tyler has shown that he can be very accurate, he can really run the offense well, inspire confidence among his teammates and he brings a really good athleticism, too, as well. So, we don’t have to reinvent our offense when he gets in there.”

That’s an important factor for a Ravens offense that is run-heavy, gap-heavy, and quarterback-centric in ways that most teams aren’t, because most teams don’t have quarterbacks who are still learning the elevated points of the passing game as the same time they’re capable of rushing for over 1,000 yards in a season.

Huntley, who completed three of five passes for 15 yards and rushed 10 times for 23 yards in the 2020 regular season, may have finally had the breakout game that could define his future.