Hendon Hooker is fluid on the football field and mobile in NFL boardrooms, where he faces concerns about his age, health and style of play.
The 25 year old former Tennessee quarterback who tore up the ACL in his left knee less than five months ago spent his pre-draft visits with teams explaining the complexity of the Volunteers’ seemingly simplistic spread offense. He’s the one who has raised concerns about how his game will translate to the pros, where he’ll have to read the whole pitch and not lock onto his primary target so much.
“I can make any throw,” Hooker said. “The way we handle our offense, the wide spreads, those are all grown man throws. I don’t throw any outs from 5 yards. These are all big boy balls.
Hooker pounces on questions about how he’ll fare in a pro-style offense.
“I can’t help defenders not being able to protect my receivers. My job is to give them the ball,” Hooker said. “A lot of these questions about one-sided readings, we have pure progressions and routes. It’s not my fault that my first reading opens.
And make no mistake, Hooker added, there’s a lot going on under his cool attitude that makes it look like he’s quietly playing catch.
Hooker is expected to be the fifth quarterback selected in the NFL Draft later this month, behind surefire firsts Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Will Levis and Anthony Richardson.
“I really like Hendon Hooker,” said NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, citing his precision, insight and ability to adjust.
Hooker’s age – he will be 26 at the end of his rookie season – and his health – he tore his ACL in his left knee in a game against South Carolina on Nov. 19 – predicted a lot that he will slip in the second round. But Jeremiah makes him go to the Vikings at No. 23 in his latest mock draft.
The 2022 SEC Offensive Player of the Year spent three years at Virginia Tech and the last two at Tennessee.
Patrick Mahomes is only two years older than Hooker, but has already played six seasons in the NFL and won a pair of Super Bowl rings. Jalen Hurts is 24 and has three years of NFL experience and a Super Bowl appearance.
“If you tell me you drafted Hendon Hooker in the second round and he’s your starting quarterback or seven, eight really good years, I think you take him,” Jeremiah said. “I think Hendon Hooker has a chance to be a real value pick for someone.”
Hooker could also find himself a year behind an established starter, which would allay any concerns about his surgically repaired knee.
The most pressing concern is how Hooker’s game will translate to the next level after operating in Tennessee’s super-spread offense, where he had to get the ball out quickly and rarely got his first read out.
Putting that style aside, “I’ll just say when you rate it, the accuracy, the decision making, the balance, the athleticism to be able to move and create with your legs, throw as well as run, all those things are all there,” said Jeremiah siad.
In Tennessee, Hooker was what scouts call a “half-court player.”
ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay thinks it was more a product of Josh Heupel’s offense than a flaw in Hooker’s game.
“Reports from all the teams I’ve spoken to about him are that he’s done a great job getting into the board and understands the concepts and can go back to his Virginia Tech playbook and recite everything as if he was playing there yesterday,” McShay said. “That’s part of why it’s so important for quarterbacks to have one-on-one time, private practice, private meetings, to really study their brains and how they learn.”
Hooker liked to show off his football savvy on the whiteboards.
“Every time I walk past a mirror and there’s an Expo marker, I’m going to draw on the mirror,” Hooker said. “It’s just something I like to do because I like football.”
Heupel said the offense Hooker was asked to run at Tennessee was not as simplistic as it seemed.
“I’m not sure anyone in college football has more to do than Hendon,” Heupel said. “Then you add the pace at which we play, you have to be a quick decider, you have to recognize the defensive structure extremely quickly. … He controlled the whole game with every shot. I think that puts him in a great position to be able to level up and handle whatever comes his way.
Heupel said the intangibles like leadership and charisma are what will make Hooker someone’s franchise quarterback.
“I’ve never been around anyone who was a stronger or more impactful leader than Hendon Hooker,” Heupel said. “Our program is not where it is today unless Hendon is in our dressing room.”
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AP Pro Football Writer Teresa Walker in Nashville contributed.
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