Hendon Hooker is fluid on the football area and cellular in NFL meeting rooms, where by he’s been hurdling concerns about his age, well being and taking part in style.
The 25-12 months-aged former Tennessee quarterback who tore the ACL in his left knee much less than five months back has spent his predraft visits with teams detailing the complexity of the Volunteers’ seemingly simplistic spread offense. It can be just one that has elevated worries about how his match will translate to the execs, the place he’ll have to read the whole discipline and not lock in on his primary concentrate on so considerably.
“I can make any toss,” Hooker mentioned. “The way we operate our offense, the extensive splits, those people are all grown-adult men throws. I’m not throwing any 5-property outs. Those are all huge-boy balls.”
Hooker pounces at thoughts about how he’ll do in a professional design and style offense.
“I can not enable that defenders can’t guard my receivers. My task is to get them the ball,” Hooker mentioned. “A large amount of these inquiries about one-sided reads, we have pure progressions and routes. It is really not my fault that my initially go through is obtaining open up.”
And do not be fooled, Hooker included, there’s a lot likely on beneath that awesome demeanor of his that helps make it feel like he’s just leisurely taking part in catch.
Hooker figures to be the fifth quarterback selected in the NFL draft later this month, powering absolutely sure-fire first-rounders Bryce Youthful, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis and Anthony Richardson.
“I actually like Hendon Hooker,” NFL Community draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah claimed, citing his accuracy, acumen and adjustability.
Hooker’s age — he’ll change 26 by the conclusion of his rookie season — and wellness — he tore the ACL in his still left knee in a sport towards South Carolina on Nov. 19 — have lots of predicting that he’ll slide into the next round. But Jeremiah has him heading to the Vikings at No. 23 in his latest mock draft.
The 2022 SEC Offensive Participant of the Calendar year used three many years at Virginia Tech and the very last two at Tennessee.
Patrick Mahomes is just two a long time more mature than Hooker but has previously played six NFL seasons and won a pair of Super Bowl rings. Jalen Hurts is 24 and has three years’ NFL experience and a Tremendous Bowl visual appeal.
“If you advised me you draft Hendon Hooker in the second round and he is your starting up quarterback or 7, 8 genuinely very good yrs, I believe you get it,” Jeremiah stated. “I consider Hendon Hooker has a chance to be a true worth decide on for an individual.”
Hooker could conclude up sitting down a yr powering an proven starter, much too, a thing that would assuage any problems about his surgically fixed knee.
The more urgent issue is how Hooker’s game will translate to the subsequent amount just after working in Tennessee’s super spread offense, where by he had to get the ball out lickety-split and seldom came off his very first read through.
Putting that design and style apart, “I’ll just say when you are analyzing him, the accuracy, the conclusion-building, the poise, the athleticism to be able to go all over and develop with his legs, to toss as perfectly as to run, all these factors are all there,” Jeremiah siad.
At Tennessee, Hooker was what scouts connect with a “half-subject reader.”
ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay figures that was a lot more a products of Josh Heupel’s offense than a flaw in Hooker’s activity.
“The stories from each individual workforce I’ve talked to about him is he is carried out a good career acquiring on the board and understands principles and can go again to his Virginia Tech playbook and recite all the things like he was participating in in it yesterday,” McShay mentioned. “That’s component of why it can be so crucial with the quarterbacks to have person time, private routines, private conferences, to genuinely research their brain and how they understand.”
Hooker relished demonstrating off his football acumen on the white boards.
“Any time I walk past a mirror and there’s an Expo marker, I’m heading to attract on the mirror,” Hooker said. “That is just one thing I get pleasure from doing due to the fact I like the game of football.”
Heupel mentioned the offense Hooker was questioned to run at Tennessee was not as simplistic as it looked.
“I’m not absolutely sure anyone in college soccer has extra on their plate than Hendon does,” Heupel mentioned. “Then, you throw in the tempo that we enjoy at, you have acquired to be a quick conclusion-maker, you have acquired to identify defensive structure very quickly. … He controlled the entire sport on every one enjoy. I believe that puts him in a fantastic posture to be ready to transition at the up coming stage and tackle all that is coming at him.”
Heupel said the intangibles this sort of as leadership and charisma are what will make Hooker somebody’s franchise quarterback.
“I’ve by no means been close to anybody that’s been a much better or much more impactful leader than Hendon Hooker is,” Heupel stated. “Our method is not where it’s at right now unless of course Hendon is a component of our locker space.”
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AP Pro Football Author Teresa Walker in Nashville contributed.
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