When news broke that Lamar Jackson wouldn’t play in the Baltimore Ravens’ first preseason game, all eyes turned to former Utah Ute Tyler Huntley. And even though Huntley is entering his third NFL season, he put rest of the league on notice.
Huntley went 16 of 18 for 110 yards and a touchdown in the first half. After rookie quarterback Malik Willis ran for a touchdown for the Titans, Huntley put Baltimore ahead to stay with a 14-yard strike.
“Tyler played great. His numbers were off the charts,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He really ran the offense well. Timing was really good in the passing game.”
Huntley was Jackson’s backup last season and made four starts in his absence. His performance Thursday was prolific enough, he had some national NFL writers buzzing on Twitter.
“Status update: Texting multiple people “I wish tyler huntley was my qb,” ESPN’s Mina Kimes wrote.
Other fans chimed in with their takes on Huntley.
Huntley was all smiles during his postgame interview session, and said he leaned on some of his experience — though relatively minimal — for his performance Thursday.
“I’ve got a couple of games under my belt,” Huntley said. “I’ve played against some good players — like Aaron Donald and TJ Watt and all them. So it felt good. It gave me a little confidence into the future.”
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
