The Lions could be looking to find their own version of Taysom Hill in 2026
The Lions could add another dangerous wrinkle to their offense.
When Dan Campbell came to the Detroit Lions from the New Orleans Saints, he took a lot of Sean Payton’s ideals with him. The need for a two-headed run game, the aggressive nature, and the culture. One thing that he didn’t bring was a two-headed quarterback setup.
For years, the Saints have had backup quarterback Taysom Hill be a big part of their offense. He hasn’t thrown many balls outside the two seasons he was thrust into the starting role due to injuries, but he’s added a lot in the running the game and being a tight end/quarterback hybrid.
Over the Weekend the Lions spent a lot of time talking to a guy who could potentially be their own version of the hybrid.
Georgia Tech’s Haynes King could be the Lions’ version of Taysom Hill
The 25-year old quarterback was at the Shrine Bowl over the weekend and met with the Lions there. He is expected to be a late Day 3 pick in this year’s draft. The Lions could grab him in the seventh round and use him in similar ways to Hill because he can go out there and do things like this:
King ran for 953 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2025. When you look at his passing stats, you see a pretty similar story to Hill. A guy who can throw the ball but is way better on his feet. In terms of catching ability, we don’t really know since he’s always been a quarterback, but the ground game is there.
Having a guy like King playing that Hill role allows the Lions to run a lot of the stuff they ran with David Montgomery, when Montgomery would get the direct snap. King can run it or throw it, and that’s going to force defenses to respect it every time.
The Lions have somewhat shown some interest in running stuff like this when they signed QB/WR Malik Cunningham this season and had take a direct snap against the Cowboys. That particular play did not work, but maybe you get more out of King.
This is not going to be a full dual quarterback situation. We’re talking about trying something once or twice a game. This is Jared Goff’s team, and if you can get a guy like King in the seventh round or as an undrafted free agent, why not try it right?
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