Former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker was well on his way to becoming a Heisman finalist last season before suffering a torn ACL in a November game against South Carolina.
Not only did this end Hooker’s collegiate career, but it also made him somewhat of an afterthought during the early stages of the NFL Draft process. With Alabama’s Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud from Ohio State topping the list of likely early picks at the quarterback position, Hooker is now getting some serious play from the scouting community.
We have to look no further than former New York Jets general manager and current ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum. His latest mock draft has Hooker landing with the Seattle Seahawks at No. 5 overall.
“OK, this one might raise some eyebrows, but hear me out. I think Hooker is really under-scouted right now, largely because he’s coming off the torn ACL in his left knee. But I love his strong arm and 6-3 frame.
Before the injury, Hooker looked great for the Vols. He led the nation in yards per attempt (9.5), threw two interceptions over 11 starts and was a top-10 passer in terms of completion percentage (69.6%). I see a potential franchise quarterback and someone who can lead an offense. Go watch his performance against Alabama if you disagree.”
Mike Tannenbaum on Hendon Hooker
The former front office head has Young, Stroud and Kentucky’s Will Levis going within the first four picks. He also has Florida’s Anthony Richardson falling outside of the top-10. This is surprising given Richardson’s performance at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier in the year.
For the sake of full disclosure, Sportsnaut doesn’t even have Hooker as a first-round pick in our latest 2023 NFL mock draft. In no way does this mean things can’t change with the NFL Draft still roughly a month away.
From an overall body of work standpoint, very few quarterback prospects in the draft compare to what we saw from Hooker a season ago for the Volunteers.
- Hendon Hooker stats (2022): 69.6% completion, 3,135 passing yards, 430 rushing yards, 42 total TD, 2 INT
Overall, the 6-foot-3 Hooker tallied 105 total touchdowns and 12 interceptions during his time with both Virginia Tech and Tennessee in college.
To be clear, Hooker is turning into a polarizing prospect. Some believe that his lack of experience in a pro-style offense makes the young man a project. NFL Media has Hooker as its 99th-ranked prospect right now.
Related: Hendon Hooker 2023 NFL Draft profile
Ideal Hendon Hooker landing spots in the 2023 NFL Draft
Let’s assume for a second that Hooker is in fact the fifth quarterback off the board. If that’s the case, it’s going to be all about where the other four signal callers mentioned above land.
Selecting No. 1 and No. 2 respectively, the Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans will go quarterback. At No. 3, it would not be a surprise if the Arizona Cardinals traded down with a quarterback-needy team. As for the fourth pick, the Indianapolis Colts are going to go quarterback.
What does this all mean? There’s a good chance that quarterbacks will go with the first four picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Seattle Seahawks at five and Las Vegas Raiders with the seventh selection have also been linked to quarterbacks during the pre-draft process.
We could easily envision a team picking in the second half of Round 1 moving into the early teens to nab Hendon Hooker. The Detroit Lions (18th), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (19th), Seattle Seahawks (20th) and Minnesota Vikings (23rd) all come to mind.
What we do know is that Hooker is going to be among the most polarizing figures heading into the 2023 NFL Draft in late April.