Up until recently, Hendon Hooker was seen as a Day 2 or even Day 3 quarterback who, if one squints, eventually becomes a productive NFL starter with some seasoning. However, the hype train has come barreling down the tracks, beginning with Mike Tannenbaum mocking him to the Seattle Seahawks with the fifth pick in the NFL Draft. From there, many more analysts started pounding their chests when it comes to Hooker.
And while there are several qualities that Hooker has, providing a peek into what he could look like as an NFL starter, there are as many, if not more, questions that he’ll need to answer as a professional QB.
Hendon Hooker Comps
At 6-foot-3, 217 pounds, Hooker has the requisite size to play the position at the next level. His arm doesn’t compare to the likes of Anthony Richardson or Will Levis, and C.J. Stroud has more juice as well. He has a quick, compact delivery and is naturally accurate to all three levels of the field.
Hooker also displays some nifty movement within the pocket to avoid pressure, although whatever happens from that point is a bit of a mystery. He’s obviously athletic enough to make plays with his legs, but Hooker’s not a runner, which we’ll discuss at length when discussing one of his comps. As a prospect, there are three significant issues with Hooker.
- He’s already 25.
- Coming off a torn ACL.
- Tennessee’s offense makes his NFL learning curve steeper.
Bryce Petty
Speaking of late-pushing first-round hype, Bryce Petty is probably the best comp for Hooker. This by no means… means Hooker won’t contribute at the NFL level as a starter. The comparison to Petty simply looks at the situation each quarterback faced while in college compared to the NFL.
Petty, like Hooker, was 24 in his rookie season. Petty was 13 pounds heavier and a hair shorter, but their builds are not too dissimilar. The most significant thing we can look at that makes them similar prospects are their college offenses.
Petty threw for 8,055 yards, 61 touchdowns, and just 10 interceptions in his two seasons as a starter at Baylor. Meanwhile, Hooker threw 58 touchdowns to just five interceptions. But it’s more about the offensive structure.
The Baylor offense didn’t stop in Waco, and we have known for a long time that it is a statistical cheat code for quarterbacks. You won’t find many traditional NFL concepts when you watch Tennessee’s offense, and you won’t find NFL offenses emulating that college offense.
Ut Vs Missouri
“I can’t help that defenders can’t guard my receivers,” said Hooker at the NFL Combine. “My job is to get them the ball. A lot of these questions about one-sided reads and stuff, we have pure progression routes. It’s not my fault my first read is getting open. We have pre-snap looks, one-high, two-high (safeties), which side, double footwork combo. We have pure progressions with an alert with an option.”
But even their scouting reports read similarly. NFL.com Draft Analyst Lance Zierlein wrote that Petty “must have a structured offense that won’t ask him to make plays outside of the pocket.” However, he also said Petty’s functional athleticism was enough that he could make plays outside of the pocket. Likewise, despite Hooker’s athleticism, Zierlein noted that he “struggled when forced to throw on the move.”
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The reason that is so notable is this. Hooker will need time to develop the processing side of things at the NFL level, as he was insulated by spacing, talented receivers, and an offense that gave him all the answers to the test. That puts an even greater emphasis on his ability to create as a passer outside of the pocket, which he currently struggles doing.
So even if the Volunteers QB goes in Round 1, expecting him to produce at an efficient level within two years is farfetched.
Jalen Hurts
If we look at Jalen Hurts and Hooker from purely a pocket-passing perspective, this is a fine comp. In fact, my good friend Zach Hicks has made this comparison. Both passers flash outstanding downfield ball placement but can be inconsistent. Hurts has improved that in the NFL, but we’re dealing with each as a prospect here.
Hurts never really found his comfort zone over the middle of the field until 2022. Hooker still doesn’t have that comfortability. However, both possess natural accuracy outside of the numbers.
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The problem with this comp is two-fold. Hurts, as it stands today, is a younger man than Hooker. The second issue is that Hurts could legitimately be a dangerous running back had he not had an arm talented enough to make him a Super Bowl-caliber passer. Hurts’ vision and feel as a runner, along with his innate ability to avoid taking unnecessary contact, are other-worldly.
Hooker is dangerous on the ground because of his athleticism, but he’s not near the runner Hurts is. In fact, he’s far closer to being the runner our next comp is.
Geno Smith
Geno Smith was nearly an inch shorter at the NFL Combine than Hooker, but only a single pound separated the two. Additionally, both quarterbacks have sturdy but not thick frames.
And while Hooker certainly hopes to hit his stride before Year 9, when he would be 34, the production process could see a delay as Smith’s did.
Smith was a second-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Just 10 years later, Hooker could go somewhere similar. But hopefully, unlike Smith, Hooker gets an opportunity to sit and develop in the shadows of an entrenched starter for a few seasons.
Hooker’s ceiling looks a lot like what we saw from Smith in 2022. His ceiling is a QB who won’t give defensive coordinators sleepless nights with his legs but who could make them sweat a bit. He’s a quarterback who could be accurate at a high level while making consistently good decisions in regard to taking care of the football.