Haynes King makes cut for Unitas Golden Arm Award Top 10

Staff Reports

THE FLATS –Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King (Longview, Texas/Longview H.S.) has made the top 10 list for the 2025 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, which honors college football’s top upperclassman quarterback who best exemplifies character, leadership and excellence, on and off the field.

King is in the midst of a historic season, leading Georgia Tech to its first 8-0 start in 59 years and its first-ever 5-0 record in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Individually, King is the only player in the country that is averaging at least 200 passing yards and 90 rushing yards per game this season. In the last 10 seasons, only three power-conference players have averaged 200 passing yards and 90 rushing yards a game. All three – Louisville’s Lamar Jackson (2016 and 2017), Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts (2019) and LSU’s Jayden Daniels (2023) – were Heisman Trophy finalists, with Jackson and Daniels both winning the award.

In all, King ranks among the top five nationally in seven different statistical categories, the top 10 in nine and the top 20 in 12, including total offense (304.4 ypg), points responsible for (16.6 ppg), rushing (93.0 ypg) and completion percentage (70.6%).

King is joined in the top 10 for the 2025 Golden Arm Award by Miami (Fla.)’s Carson Beck, TCU’s Josh Hoover, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Duke’s Darian Mensah, Louisville’s Miller Moss, Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed, Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby and Georgia’s Gunner Stockton. King ranks second among the group in total offense, just 2.7 yards per game behind Mensah, who King outdueled in a 27-18 win at Duke on Oct. 18, and fifth in points responsible for (behind only Mendoza, Sorsby, Hoover and Reed).

The winner of the 2025 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award will be announced later this year in Baltimore.

King and the No. 8/7-ranked Yellow Jackets put their unblemished record on the line on Saturday when they travel to NC State for a pivotal ACC matchup. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Raleigh, N.C. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.