Getty Hendon Hooker lines up to fire a pass for Tennessee in 2022.
The Detroit Lions may not have a quarterback anywhere on the immediate horizon, but one insider believes there could be one coming very soon thanks to promising rookie Hendon Hooker.
The Lions earned some praise for their third-round pick, and NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal believes Hooker could have a chance to take over as the starter once he’s back to full health and acclimated to the NFL. In a preview of NFC North rosters, Rosenthal wrote that the Lions upgraded their quarterback depth in a big way and may have found Jared Goff’s eventual replacement.
“The Lions needed to upgrade their backup quarterback situation and did so with third-round pick Hendon Hooker,” Rosenthal wrote. “Give Hooker a year before he’s challenging Jared Goff for playing time.”
Hendon Hooker in ‘Redshirt’ Rookie Season
As Rosenthal noted, the former University of Tennessee quarterback is not expected to make an immediate impact in the NFL — and for good reason. The 25-year-old rookie did not participate in the team’s rookie minicamp as he recovers from an ACL injury, and Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he expects the rookie to have a “redshirt” season as he continues to recover.
Campbell added that Hooker will have the chance to learn under Goff while he focuses on rehabbing.
“This is a redshirt year for him,” Campbell said. “He’s gotta get this leg right first, and then he’ll learn under Jared [Goff]. And then let’s see what happens.”
Sounds like Hendon Hooker was someone the #Lions really prioritized during the draft process.
I’m very interested to see in how they approach getting him “adjusted to the NFL” and what that means for Goff’s future
Though he may not be able to fully participate in drills, Hooker has been putting in plenty of work to get acclimated with the team. Not long after being drafted, Hooker said he made a phone call to Lions tight end James Mitchell, his former teammate at Virginia Tech, to start learning the playbook.
“I just asked him if he could shoot me the formations really quick and try to get a little headstart,” Hooker said, via MLive.com. “… He said he was on a trip with his girlfriend at the time, so he had to wait a couple hours. I understood that, but James is a great guy. … He just gave me the formations. That’s where it starts. You’ve got to know where everyone aligns. Then the plays, the protections and the concepts come after that. That’s just the basics. If you get those basics right, then everything else can kind of follow suit.”
League Execs See Big Things Ahead for Lions Rookie
Rosenthal is not the only one predicting a bright future for the Lions rookie. Heavy Sports insider Matt Lombardo spoke to league executives and coaches who believe he will become one of the best of his class and praised the Lions for getting a potential starter so late in the draft.
“I love him,” an NFC personnel executive said of Hooker. “I gave him a first-round grade. I had him as my No. 4 quarterback behind Will Levis. I had Hendon ahead of (Anthony) Richardson.”
Others believe Hooker is in a great situation in Detroit, where he will have the chance to learn from a veteran without the pressure of having to start.
Hendon Hooker finds James Mitchell for the 26 yard TD! #ThrowbackThursday
“That was a great pick for Detroit,” a coach of an NFL team that was in the market for a quarterback told Heavy. “They get to let him get healthy and learn for a year behind Jared Goff.
“Hooker has the talent to be the guy in time, while not being thrown to the wolves as a rookie. You have no idea how much that’s going to benefit him.”
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Lions Rookie Will Challenge Jared Goff for Playing Time Next Year: Insider