Unless Baker Mayfield ignites a career resurgence or Kyle Trask becomes a star, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers must continue its search for the future at quarterback after Tom Brady.
CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso has the Bucs selecting Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker with the No. 19 pick in his latest mock draft on Wednesday, April 5. Hooker’s draft stock has improved of late as he recovers from an ACL tear. He threw for 3,135 yards and 27 touchdowns versus two interceptions last year before the injury ended his season with the Vols.
“As we near the 2023 NFL Draft, it feels more likely Hendon Hooker lands somewhere in the first round, most likely in the back half of it,” Trapasso wrote. “This mock represents the highest the ultra-productive Tennessee quarterback could realistically land, and it’s in the NFC South with a team that doesn’t have a certain, sure-fire plan at quarterback.”
Hooker notably “will visit the Bucs next, and there are plenty of reasons why they might be wise to select him” according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. Former Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh, the new South Florida head coach in Tampa, called Hooker “the best player in college football” last year.
Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker is back in Knoxville and throwing the football before Vols Pro Day.
Remarkable to see after ACL surgery in November. @rockytopinsider
“Man, Hendo is such a fascinating story,” Golesh said via the Tampa Bay Times. “I said it at my introductory press conference, Hendo should’ve been in New York [for the Heisman ceremony], and Hendo was the best player in college football.”
“I didn’t get to see everybody that was in New York, but there was nobody that did what he did statistically, perseverance, willing a team to win, leadership, putting a team on his back and taking care of the football and creating what he created — there was nobody better in college football last year.”
Hooker Once the Top Heisman Candidate
ESPN had Hooker as the top candidate for the Heisman before the Georgia and South Carolina losses. While Hooker’s draft stock slid along with his Heisman hopes after the injury, ESPN draft expert Todd McShay maintained that Hooker is “the QB4 in the class” after C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, and Will Levis.
“[Hooker] is a young guy that’s persevered through a lot now, coming off an ACL, and it’s so funny to watch,” Golesh said via the Tampa Bay Times. “You see mock drafts come up on Twitter. It started out like, ‘Man, maybe he’s a mid-second-round guy, late second-round.'”
“And then as it’s gotten closer to these dudes actually investing real money in people, and as somebody actually sat down and watched the film and then sat down and interviewed him,” Golesh continued via the Tampa Bay Times, “now all of a sudden it’s, ‘Man, could he be a top-10 pick? Is he the best quarterback in the draft?'”
Age and ACL the Only Downsides to Hooker
Rick Stroud emphasized that Hooker “produced at the highest level in the SEC, which routinely plays the toughest defenses and sends the most players to the NFL”.
“The only knock on him was the ACL injury,” Stroud wrote. “Then, there’s his age. He could turn 26 before his rookie season is over.”
Concerns aside, Hooker affords the Bucs a third option at quarterback and a prospect who could become the franchise quarterback. Stroud noted that the Bucs probably won’t lose enough in 2023 to get a high draft pick next year and land a highly-touted prospect such as UCS’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye.
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Bucs Predicted to Land ‘Ultra-Productive’ Draft Prospect