Taylor Heinicke ( HIGH-nih-kee; born March 15, 1993) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Old Dominion Monarchs and joined the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2015, having played with Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers, Washington Football Team / Commanders, Atlanta Falcons, and Los Angeles Chargers.
Heinicke saw play for three seasons with Washington. In 2020, he replaced an injured Alex Smith by starting during the Wild Card Round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Heinicke later started most of the 2021 season following an injury to Ryan Fitzpatrick, setting an unofficial NFL record for most completions by a quarterback in his first three starts. Heinicke also started the majority of the 2022 season after an injury to Carson Wentz. Heinicke was cited as an underdog due to his ability to lead teams to wins despite the perceived lack of prototypical size and arm talent.
Taylor Heinicke was born on March 15, 1993, in Lawrenceville, Georgia. His father is Brett Heinicke. Heinicke played football under head coach Kevin Reach at Collins Hill High School in Lawrenceville, where he was an all-state selection as a junior after guiding Collins Hill to a 10–4 record and a trip to the Class AAAAA semi-finals. As a senior, Heinicke was named the Old Spice National Player of the Year in the state of Georgia. The award is presented annually to 50 high school varsity football athletes. He was also the Gwinnett Daily Post's Offensive Player of the Year after his record season when he threw for 4,218 yards, the second most in state history, and 44 touchdowns, which is the third-best ever in Georgia, setting Gwinnett County single-season records for passing yards and touchdowns. Heinicke threw for over 300 yards in nine games and also ran for 354 yards on 77 carries along with a pair of touchdowns. Following his senior year, Heinicke was invited to play at the North/South All-Star Football Classic, where he collected 254 yards and three touchdowns en route to MVP honors after helping the North to a 22–0 victory over the South. He appeared on the reality TV show The Ride, which featured high school quarterbacks competing for a spot in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
In 2011, Heinicke accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Old Dominion University (ODU), where he played for the Monarchs from 2011 to 2014. As a freshman, Heinicke led the Monarchs to a 10–3 record in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) before losing in the second round of the FCS playoffs against Georgia Southern. He threw for 2,385 yards, 25 touchdowns, and an interception, and he ran for 363 yards and four touchdowns. Heinicke also punted four times for 170 yards. He was named to the All-CAA third-team and was the National Freshman Performer of the Year.
In 2012, Heinicke led the Monarchs to an 11–2 record, losing in the playoffs quarterfinals, again to Georgia Southern. That year, Heinicke passed for an FCS-record 5,076 yards, 44 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. He ran for 470 yards and 11 touchdowns. Heinicke also punted 11 times for 475 yards. On September 22, 2012, against New Hampshire, he passed for a Division I-record 730 yards and threw five touchdowns. Following the postseason loss, he was awarded All-American honors, CAA Offensive Player of the Year, the Walter Payton Award, and was named FCS Player of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.
For the 2013 season, Old Dominion began a transition to Conference USA, meaning for the 2013 season, ODU was an independent team. Despite this, Heinicke led ODU to an 8–4 record against mostly FCS opponents. During the season, he passed for 4,022 yards, 33 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Heinicke ran for 348 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also punted 13 times for a total of 539 yards, also kicking the longest punt on the team for the season of 61 yards. In 2013, Heinicke became just the 18th quarterback from Division I to pass for 10,000 career yards and rush for 1,000. His 2013 season marks placed him in the top ten among FBS quarterbacks in passing yards, passing yards per game and touchdown passes.
For the 2014 season, Heinicke led ODU to a 6–6 record. During the season, he passed for 3,476 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. Heinicke ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns. He also punted 14 times for a total of 661 yards. In September 2026, it was announced that Heinicke is to have his jersey retired by the Monarchs on October 15, 2026.
Heinicke went undrafted in the 2015 NFL draft, but signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent. He competed against veterans Mike Kafka and Shaun Hill to back up Vikings' starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Kafka was placed on injured reserve, making way for Heinicke to be the third-string quarterback.
On September 3, 2016, Heinicke was placed on the reserve/NFI list with an off-the-field injury suffered between minicamp and training camp. He was activated to the active roster on November 8.
On September 2, 2017, Heinicke was waived/injured by the Vikings and was placed on the injured reserve list. He was released with an injury settlement nine days later.
On September 23, 2017, Heinicke was signed to the practice squad of the New England Patriots. He was released on October 9.
On November 29, 2017, Heinicke was signed to the Houston Texans' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 15 to back up T. J. Yates, following an injury to Tom Savage. Ten days later, Heinicke made his NFL debut against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day after Yates suffered a head injury. However, after completing his only pass attempt, Heinicke suffered a concussion and was replaced by Yates, who had just passed the concussion protocol. The Texans would go on to lose 34–6.
On April 13, 2018, Heinicke was released by the Texans.
On April 16, 2018, Heinicke was claimed off waivers by the Carolina Panthers. During the 2018 season, he appeared in six games for the Panthers, including being named starter for Week 16 against the Atlanta Falcons. Starting quarterback Cam Newton was ruled out for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury. In his first start against the Falcons, Heinicke completed 33-of-53 passes for 274 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions before leaving the eventual 24–10 loss with an elbow injury. His injury was significant enough that he was placed on injured reserve for the regular-season finale.
On March 12, 2019, Heinicke re-signed with the Panthers. On August 30, he was released during final roster cuts.
On November 22, 2019, Heinicke was allocated to the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL in a supplemental draft held before the 2020 XFL draft. However, he did not see the field during the season and recorded no statistics. Heinicke had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Washington Football Team / Commanders
On December 8, 2020, Heinicke was signed to the practice squad of the Washington Football Team. Prior to joining them, he was in the process of finishing his engineering degree at Old Dominion. On December 19, Heinicke was promoted to the active roster. During Week 16 against his former team, the Carolina Panthers, he made his Washington debut after starting quarterback Dwayne Haskins was benched in the fourth quarter. Heinicke completed 12-of-19 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown during the 20–13 loss. Haskins was released the following day and Alex Smith was named the starter.