A player who was well was on his way to the Heisman trophy before a brutal injury took him out of his final college season, he will look to prove to teams during the pre-draft process that the tape does not lie to them and he can be a starter in this league as Hendon Hooker enters the 2023 NFL draft.
Here is everything you need to know about the Tennessee gunslinger:
Vitals
Height: 6-4
Weight: 218
Class: Senior
Strengths
One of the more statically efficient quarterbacks in college football, Hendon Hooker experienced a breakout over the last two seasons with an extra-aggressive Tennessee Volunteers offense under Josh Heupel, which he took full advantage of. He has prototypical size, a frame that will fill out at the next level, an NFL-caliber arm, and enough athletic ability to be a threat.
Hooker has a quick enough release that he delivers in a slingshot motion across his face that is consistently delivered with good enough velocity to fit into tight windows. His mid and short-range accuracy are among the best in the class and while his deep balls aren’t quite on the same level, he is still a threat to put it deep on any given play and did so frequently in that Tennessee offense.
This past season before an injury Hooker showed off all these skills and was deep into the Heisman race, putting up 32 total touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 175.5 in just 12 games. He has progressed as a player and a quarterback each year and you can see him develop on tape with each game. His game against Alabama is must-watch football as he put up five touchdowns against an elite defense, proving his worth against pro-level athletes to the fullest extent.
Weaknesses
While Hooker has a good enough arm for the NFL, it would not be classified as upper tier or elite by any measure. A lot of his deep balls suffer from it. They are often left wobbling in the air for too long and in the NFL with tighter deep ball windows, this simply will not work.
Hooker’s offense at Tennessee was very quarterback friendly with a lot of one-read throws, screens, and bubbles for him to find production with. There were not a ton of progressions for him to go through, and when he did go through multiple reads the production was not as consistent. This is concerning given he will be 25 years old coming out of the draft, and he likely needs a year to fit in and learn an NFL offense.
Projection
Hendon Hooker will assuredly be a draft favorite heading into the night, as many fans will be rightfully rooting for him moving forward. His production at Tennessee brings with it a lot of good tape to point to and his progression as a player certainly paints him well to front offices. His age, injury, lack of elite tools, and the gimmicky offense he played in will ultimately likely prevent him from being a first round pick, but there will be teams that love his intangibles and tape enough to make a move to try and develop him as a potential starter or high end backup.
Projection: Third Round
