2023 NFL Draft prospect profile - Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee

The NFL is always hungry for starting quarterbacks with the potential to be the fabled “Franchise Quarterback”, particularly on a rookie contract.

The top of the quarterback depth chart in the 2023 NFL Draft is well established at this point. There are two quarterbacks who are realistically in contention to be drafted with the first pick in the draft. There are several passers with high upside but also significant warts that make them high risk-reward prospects.

Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker occupies a somewhat unique place in this year’s quarterback class.

When he was healthy, Hooker was playing as well as the top quarterbacks in the class and could have been a Heisman Trophy candidate had he finished the season healthy. However, he is also a relatively old prospect at 25 (his birthday is 1/13/98) and he suffered a torn ACL late in the year. Taken separately, teams would be willing to deal with the two risk factors, but taken together, they’ve thrown his draft stock and projection into question.

The New York Giants have shown some pretty significant interest in Hooker. GM Joe personally scouted the game between Tennessee and Alabama, met with him “extensively” at the Reese’s Senior Bowl and the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, and hosted him for a Top-30 visit.

Prospect: Hendon Hooker (5)
Games Watched: vs. South Carolina (2021), vs. Alabama (2021), vs. Alabama (2022), vs. Kentucky (2022), vs. Georgia (2022)
Red Flags: Torn ACL (11/20/22)

Measurables

Courtesy Kent Lee Platte (@mathbomb) | RAS.football

Career Stats

Games Played: 42

Attempts: 944
Completions: 632 (66.9 percent)
Yards: 8,974 (9.5 per attempt)

Touchdowns: 80
Interceptions: 12

2022 Stats

Games Played: 11

Attempts: 329
Completions: 229 (69.6 percent)
Yards: 3,135 (9.5 per attempt)

Touchdowns: 27
Interceptions: 2

Quick Summary

Best: Size, athleticism, arm talent, accuracy, football IQ
Worst: Injury, experience with NFL concepts, footwork
Projection: A developmental quarterback prospect with the upside to start early in his rookie contract.

Game Tape

Full Report

Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker offers a very intriguing blend of size, arm talent, football IQ, and athleticism.

Hooker transferred from Virginia Tech to Tennessee after the 2020 season. He initially lost the competition with Joe Milton III to be Tennessee’s starting quarterback but ultimately won the job in 2021. Hooker proved to be an incredibly prolific quarterback for the Volunteers, completing 68.8 percent of his passes for 6,080 yards (9.6 yards per attempt) and 58 touchdowns to just 5 interceptions – in addition to running for 1,046 yards and another 10 touchdowns.

Hooker has near-prototypical size for the position at 6-foot 3 ¼ inches, 217 pounds, 33-inch arms and 10 ½ inch hands. He is also a surprisingly good athlete who combines good quickness and agility to make defenders miss and extend plays, with enough speed to hurt defenses as a runner in the open field. He is able to execute read-option plays (or designed quarterback runs) as well as pull the ball down and pick up yards on scrambles.

As evidenced by his passing numbers, Hooker is a very efficient passer. He has plenty of arm strength to drive the ball to all areas of the field. He’s able to challenge coverage in the short and intermediate areas of the field, as well as deliver passes down the field without having to “sell out” in generating power.

Hooker does a good job of delivering his passes with good accuracy and precision, putting the ball where only his receiver can make a play on it down the field. Likewise, he’s able to place it such that Tennessee’s athletic receivers are in good position to pick up yards after the catch. Hooker is willing to challenge coverages in all areas of the field, but his velocity and ability to place the ball so his receiver is between it and the defender contribute to his low interception numbers.

And while Tennessee’s unique offense created easy reads for Hooker and didn’t ask him to make complex post-snap decisions, he still shows evidence of good football IQ.

In particular, Hooker has a relatively advanced understanding of how to manipulate defenders with his eyes, body language, and their own expectations based on Tennessee’s offense. Hooker consistently uses his eyes and play-action to freeze defenders down the field or create open space for his receivers. In those instances, Hooker will make an exaggerated look opposite of the play-side. Defenses, knowing that Tennessee typically only uses one or two man half-field reads, flow in that direction, only for Hooker to reorient and make his intended read. Hooker also understands leverage and angles, and uses them to maximize yards in the open fields.

Tennessee’s offense has little in common with most NFL offensive schemes. It features a very wide offensive formation that is sometimes as much as 50 yards across. That creates one-on-one matchups on the outside, makes it very difficult for safeties to roll coverage, and creates very light tackle boxes. By comparison, the NFL has featured more condensed formations of late, which force communication problems and traffic for coverage players. And, as mentioned before, Tennessee’s offense generally uses a high rate of RPO plays and one or two-man half-field reads. NFL schemes have cut down on the post-snap option routes and full-field five-man reads. But despite the influence of college concepts in the NFL, pro concepts are still more advanced than what Hooker was asked to execute on a down-to-down basis.

Hooker will need to work on improving the consistency of his footwork at the NFL level. He has a tendency to let his feet stop and play flat-footed in the pocket as he waits for routes to open up down the field. That can make his throwing motion slightly inconsistent and the ball occasionally sails on him. He can also be prone to playing through a straw and being caught unawares by pass rushers as he tries to extend the play.

Hooker suffered a torn ACL in Tennessee’s November 20th game against South Carolina. The NFL will want to investigate his medical reports, recovery timeline, and long-term prognosis.

Overall Grade: 7.5

Projection

Hendon Hooker will likely begin his career as a developmental quarterback, but he has the traits to be a starting quarterback early in his career.

Hooker will need to get used to NFL offensive schemes and improve his footwork to be consistently effective at the NFL level. However, his arm strength, precision, athleticism, and discipline are going to be intriguing for teams. Even accounting for Tennessee’s offense, Hooker was a legitimate Heisman candidate before his season ended. Not only was he very productive, he showed good development at Tennessee and regularly produced “wow” plays.

The elephant in the room with respect to Hooker’s projection is the dual concerns of his age (25) and ACL injury. The injury would likely be less of a concern with a younger prospect, however if his injury timeline is longer than expected, he could (effectively) be a 26-year old rookie. That could give teams pause in selecting him. The upside is that if he’s selected by a team with a quarterback in place, his recovery time could give him more time to develop.

Hooker’s age, injury, and need for development will make him a polarizing prospect. He has the upside to be a good starting quarterback at the NFL level, however there’s an element of risk inherent in his selection that isn’t there with the best quarterbacks in the draft class. Where Hooker lands will be crucial to how he fares in the NFL.