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QB Hendon Hooker, DET (1 Viewer)

Chaka said:
LawFitz said:
I think the concern about age has a lot to do with these two questions:

A. Why didn't he blow up at a younger age, like most future elite prospects do?

B. Should his late college production be discounted by the idea that he was playing as a 'grown man' against college-aged kids?

I don't know the answer to either in this case, as I do think both questions are more than a bit nuanced - but,

C. The statistical history of such situations doesn't speak favorably either.

Add up these three thoughts and I see why his age becomes a decent/major consideration. Good luck to any team's scouting that finds enough good answers to A and B to justify stumping for Hooker despite C.
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He "blew up" last season too. 3000 yards, 9.7 y/a and 31:3 TD:INT ratio.

Not sure why he left VaTech but he was a 63% passer in 300+ attempts over two seasons, at 9.3 y/a and a 22:7 TD:INT ratio.

He's always been good.
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As a VT fan I don't fault him at all for leaving VT. Coach Fuentes had poor relationships with many of his players. Many recruits left once they got there. Fuentes lost his entire WR corps one offseason. I'm not even sure he's been hired after getting canned by VT.

It's a total guess if Hooker will be good. Physically he is quite gifted
 
The First Read: Winners and losers from Round 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft

Excerpt:

Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee: Hooker was a sexy pick to make it into the first round. But with Levis falling, Hooker was also unlikely to find a spot in the later picks on Thursday. In fairness, Hooker always was going to be a luxury pick for a team that already had a veteran quarterback and was looking for someone to develop. He's 25 years old, recovering from an ACL injury sustained late in his final season and in need of some refinement after playing in a college system that some might describe as gimmicky. The upside here is that he can still find plenty of teams interested in his services. Hooker had a visit with the Lions, who have the third pick in the second round. The Rams, Seahawks, Raiders and Titans also could be looking for quarterbacks when Friday's selections begin. He'll find a team on Day 2. He's got too much going for him for that not to happen.
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Lions selected Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker with the No. 57 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.​

After a nondescript three years for a fading Virginia Tech program, Hooker (6’3/217) transferred to Knoxville in 2021 and immediately went supernova under Josh Heupel, thriving in a system that schemes big plays wide open. A staggering 53.6 percent of Hooker’s 2022 dropbacks came on play-action, while RPOs were also a staple of Heupel’s advanced spread attack. That made it easy for Hooker to play pitch-and-catch with the likes of Jalin Hyatt, though 69.6 completion percentages and 9.5 YPAs still don’t grow on trees. Nevertheless, Hooker was less impressive outside of structure, where both his accuracy and decision-making severely waned. Even within structure, Hooker’s ball placement was not always the best. When you throw in his late season ACL tear and highly-advanced age for a rookie (25), Hooker arrives in the big leagues with serious question marks. He hopes to answer them with his textbook size, dual-threat athleticism, rhythm passing and strong base mechanics. In Detroit, Hooker will get the chance to rehab and acclimate to an NFL offense as a rookie. He may not take a live snap in 2023, but the runway is there for him to be the team's start next year.
RELATED:
Apr 28, 2023 at 9:34 PM ET
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Lions coach Dan Campbell said the 2023 season will be "a redshirt year" for Hendon Hooker.​

Campbell also said "it's going to be a long time" before the team knows if Hooker will be a potential successor to Jared Goff. "I like the fact that he was older ... I think you want your quarterback to be more mature," Campbell added. Hooker will likely be at least 26 years old before he throws an NFL pass if Campbell's claim of a redshirt year is to be believed.
SOURCE: Pro Football Talk on NBCSports.com
May 9, 2023 at 1:41 PM ET
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"I like the fact that he was older ... I think you want your quarterback to be more mature," Campbell added. Hooker will likely be at least 26 years old before he throws an NFL pass if Campbell's claim of a redshirt year is to be believed"

26 is 21 in running back years.
 
Greg Cosell analyzes Lions' 2023 draft class

Excerpt:

QB Hendon Hooker, Tennessee, Round 3 (No. 68 overall)
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Cosell: "Hooker's 2021 and 2022 tape showed a tall athletic strong-armed QB with the arm strength and throwing traits to effectively work the intermediate and deeper levels of the field and excellent mobility to make second reaction plays.

"Hooker ran a relatively pure version of the Air Raid passing game with its emphasis on no huddle fast tempo and widespread formations and pure progression reads where a QB is not taught to understand the subtleties and nuances of specific defenses and coverages and a high percentage of the throws are pre-determined.
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"Hooker played with a refined sense of rhythm and timing within the context of the Tennessee passing game and he rarely got stuck in the pocket without a defined sense of where to go with the ball. There will be valid questions as to whether Hooker can transition effectively and quickly to a larger playbook with far more pass game concepts versus more sophisticated defenses with more detailed pressure schemes.
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"Hooker's running ability will be a positive as he learns how to play NFL QB and it could well be the reason he is viewed as an intriguing prospect even though you wouldn't say he is twitchy or explosive as a runner but he has size and strength and some wiggle to be a factor in the open field."
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Faust said:
Lions QB Hendon Hooker says he's taking 'mental reps' in Detroit's rookie minicamp
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Can't evaluate him until he gets healthy and starts getting reps, but he looks the part. Many of his fellow rookies spoke about how great it is just having him around the practices.

Currently he's just throwing on the side, working off the side with coaches, and "spent the majority of his time attached to the hip of assistant quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett." When he wasn't going over stuff with Barrett or Mark Brunell, he was a force of nature encouraging his teammates. Brings a lot of energy and positivity to the building, and the other players appreciate his leadership.

Just baby steps at this point but he's going about things the right way. He has a longstanding relationship with Assistant GM Ray Agnew and was a guy Detroit identified early in the process as a mid-round project QB they wanted to add. You can't coach a commanding presence, guys either have it or they don't. He's got it.
 
The Lions can move on from Goff with a relatively small cap hit of $5M next yr and then he is a FA - so thats essentially 2 yrs for Hooker to show he can take over or they can extend Goff. Its a very good situation for him - time to possibly take over and if he gets the job he has a lot of weapons at his disposal. Definitely a risk and hold rookie draft pick but worth it in the 3rd IMO - maybe even earlier in SF.
 
Faust said:

Lions selected Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker with the No. 57 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.​

After a nondescript three years for a fading Virginia Tech program, Hooker (6’3/217) transferred to Knoxville in 2021 and immediately went supernova under Josh Heupel, thriving in a system that schemes big plays wide open. A staggering 53.6 percent of Hooker’s 2022 dropbacks came on play-action, while RPOs were also a staple of Heupel’s advanced spread attack. That made it easy for Hooker to play pitch-and-catch with the likes of Jalin Hyatt, though 69.6 completion percentages and 9.5 YPAs still don’t grow on trees. Nevertheless, Hooker was less impressive outside of structure, where both his accuracy and decision-making severely waned. Even within structure, Hooker’s ball placement was not always the best. When you throw in his late season ACL tear and highly-advanced age for a rookie (25), Hooker arrives in the big leagues with serious question marks. He hopes to answer them with his textbook size, dual-threat athleticism, rhythm passing and strong base mechanics. In Detroit, Hooker will get the chance to rehab and acclimate to an NFL offense as a rookie. He may not take a live snap in 2023, but the runway is there for him to be the team's start next year.
RELATED:
Apr 28, 2023 at 9:34 PM ET
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why does this headline say 57th overall pick? He was a 3rd rounder....Just odd.
 
This is going to be a really interesting dynamic to watch over the next 12 months. What we know:

1) Goff revitalized his career in 2022 cashing in on some of the promise he showed once McVay got a hold of him earlier in his career.

2) After 1 season of decent to solid, but hardly earth-shattering football, Daniel Jones secured a $40M/year contract. Why? Likely because the Giants were pot committed. It's not as if Jones isn't talented, but it was a huge check to write to a guy with a sketchy, up and down track record. Derek Carr just got a 4 yr/$150M deal. A year after having a down season, but also a year after a pretty good season that had secured him a 3 year/$121.5M deal.

3) As QB salaries start to approach $55-60M/year at the top stratosphere of the position, the delta between them and the rookie pay scale is growing at a much faster rate. Consider that Trevor Lawrence signed a 4 year $36.19M deal. 2 years later, Bryce Young signed a 4 year $41.2M deal...that's an average annual increase of less than 7%. If you look at the contract Josh Allen signed in 2021 ($43M/year) and recognize that Herbert/Burrow probably touch the $52-54M range, that could be an 11% annual bump. For the Allen/Burrow/Hurts of the world, who are seen as legit franchise signal callers...you swallow hard. But it's that 2nd tier, where the increases are becoming increasingly pronounced.
 
The Detroit Free Press reports third-round QB Hendon Hooker (knee, NFI) is expected to be cleared “sometime this fall.”

Longtime Lions beat writer Dave Birkett reports Hooker is expected to spend all of training camp on the active/NFI list. That will presumably give way to the reserve/NFI list, which would cost Hooker at least the first four games of the season. We wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up spending the entire year there behind Jared Goff and Nate Sudfeld. Hooker’s selection was for 2024 and beyond.
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Lions HC Dan Campbell said he thinks the team will open QB Hendon Hooker’s window for return this week.

Hooker suffered a torn ACL late in his final season at Tennessee and was eventually drafted by the Lions in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. The rookie quarterback hasn’t done much in the way of football activity as he’s continued to recover from his injury, but designating him for return would give the Lions at least three weeks to look at him on the field. Once designated for return, the Lions would have three weeks to either activate him or rule him out for the season, but with Teddy Bridgewater currently serving as the backup to Jared Goff, it’s unlikely we see Hooker in 2023.
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Prospect Grade​

6.23
Will Eventually Be Average Starter

Draft Projection Round 2 (actual 3.05 pick 68)
NFL Comparison Desmond Ridder :oldunsure:

​

Overview​

Hooker’s age and ACL tear will be starting points for many draft conversations, but the most important question to be answered is whether he can thrive outside of the Tennessee offense. Hooker was frequently a half-field reader, which means he could lean on spacing, speed and/or route combinations to make life easier. He’s more accurate outside the numbers than between the hashes and his deep ball placement was much more uneven than expected. However, Hooker plays with excellent poise and footwork as a pocket passer. He will make quarterback coaches and play-callers happy with his adherence to keeping plays on schedule. He’s still showing signs of improvement and growth at the position, and his ability to hurt teams with his legs creates opportunities to help his offense outside of what he does in the pocket. His recovery from the ACL tear will require monitoring, but he has the talent to become a starter in a timing-based, spread offense.

Strengths​

  • Blends NFL pocket-passer size with dual-threat athleticism.
  • Rhythmic passer who prefers to keep plays on schedule.
  • Good operation time with twitchy release in quick game.
  • Patient in allowing route combinations to develop.
  • Footwork is as dialed in and consistent as you’ll find among this year’s QB prospects.
  • Avoids high risk, low yield throws for the most part.
  • TD-INT ratio of 58:5 in the last two seasons.
  • Sticks with delivery regardless of pressure.
  • Feels edges collapsing and climbs pocket to safety.
  • Helps identify protection for running backs.
  • Above average acceleration for success on called runs or as a scrambler.

Weaknesses​

  • Sustained torn ACL in left knee late last season.
  • Coming off injury as a 25-year-old rookie.
  • Rarely required to get through a slate of progressions in the Vols’ offense.
  • Might need to prove he can make window throws to stationary targets.
  • Sailed too many of his throws between the hashes.
  • Struggled when forced to throw on the move.
  • Left touchdowns on the field due to inconsistent placement on deep throws.
  • Internal clock hits snooze at times, leading to sacks that could have been avoided.
  • Takes on too much contact as a runner.
SHARK POOL VIEW

Detroit should have not have extended Goff; let him walk after 2024 and turn the team over to a 26 year old who has zero NFL snaps bc of his amazing potential.
 
There is the concern that he takes too many sacks which I think is going to be an issue that Jayden Daniels will need to overcome as well if he’s going to be a long term dependable QB.
 
JohnnyU said:
Wasted pick by the Lions. What is he, 40 soon?
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He wasn't even the oldest QB drafted in 2023.

The jury is still completely out on Hooker after what amounted to a redshirt season. He was on the 53-man roster down the stretch and the playoffs but never saw the field.

If at anytime in the next three years Goff goes down, and the Lions play .500 or better in his absence, it definitely will not be classified a wasted pick.

Their roster is amongst the top 4 in the NFL; it would be franchise malpractice to not have a Plan B for the season. What do you think this is, the Colts?
 
Hooker was a very smart pick by Detroit...first of all if anyone says they knew Goff was going to go the next level and get a massive deal they are full of it...at the time of the pick Hooker was insurance if they were to move on from Goff...secondly, they now have a potential quality backup...If Hooker is developing the Lions could keep being very competitive if Goff were to go down...and lastly Hooker could be potential trade bait at some point but for now you have a backup with upside for the next three years at very low $...this pick was smart roster management.
 
Boston said:
Hooker was a very smart pick by Detroit...first of all if anyone says they knew Goff was going to go the next level and get a massive deal they are full of it...at the time of the pick Hooker was insurance if they were to move on from Goff...secondly, they now have a potential quality backup...If Hooker is developing the Lions could keep being very competitive if Goff were to go down...and lastly Hooker could be potential trade bait at some point but for now you have a backup with upside for the next three years at very low $...this pick was smart roster management.
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…….but even for an old prospect is he any good?
 
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