2023 NFL Draft preview: Scouting report on Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker

The Seattle Seahawks continue to get linked with quarterbacks at the top of the draft, which has caused us to review the top tier of the quarterback class. However, there has not been too much discussion of what if the Seahawks try to locate their quarterback of the future outside of Day 1. One signal caller who fits that post Day 1 criteria is one of the more recognized players in this year’s class in University of Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, whom it should be noted tore his ACL to end his 2022 season.

Games watched - 2022 Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Florida

Previous quarterback scouting reports - Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis, Anthony Richardson

Height - 6 foot 3 - Weight - 217 pounds

Strengths

• Biggest strength - mobility - With the ball in his hands when escaping the pocket, Hooker has good (6) play speed which allows him to run away from linebackers, edges and slower secondary players. He also has the elusiveness to make a man miss if necessary. Hooker possesses the power required to put his head down and fight through defenders in short yardage and QB sneak situations. Hooker also makes the proper read on read and triple options.
• Hooker is relatively smart in the pocket as he has a quiet and clean slide from deep to front, which helps him avoid pressure coming up the field. When in the pocket, Hooker keeps two hands on the ball at all times. He always knows where his exit points are or where they will develop. Hooker does not feel phantom pressure and he rarely fades himself into blitzing defenders. Hooker has a good base width and quiet feet at all times in the pocket.

• Over the middle of the field in the short passing game, Hooker is steady and does not miss his targets often, although he can occasionally be too high or behind with the ball.
• When on, Hooker throws a very pretty deep ball with loft that can drop right into the bucket.

Weaknesses

• Biggest weaknesses - eyes - Hooker’s eyes are sufficient (5) at best and border on poor (4). He locks onto his first read or one side of the field far too often. This results in additional pressures and more difficult throws because Hooker is unwilling to get off of them. There were a multitude of times where Hooker threw to a completely blanketed receiver that resulted in an interception or an incomplete pass. He led his receivers into trouble from defenders in zone coverage because of how long he stared them down. He never used his eyes to look off second and third level defenders which does raise question marks about how he will do against zone coverage. Hooker consistently did not see open receivers because of how long he locked onto his first read. What could have been an easy completion and often a first down to the other side of the field often ended up in a negative play for the offense.
• Hooker does have a tendency to stiff arm with his throwing hand which is something that has to be eliminated from his game. He needs to work on where he holds the ball as a runner as sometimes, he will keep it in his up field or inside arm making it easier for a defender to get a piece of and he does not always keep it high and tight.
• In the short passing game, his accuracy is traditionally good, however, there are simply far too many throws that are inaccurate whether they are completed or not. Hooker missed the target on multiple screens by either delivering a low ball forcing the receiver to bend down and preventing them from running up field quickly as they caught it or simply missing them by putting it too far up field. These are throws that have to be on the numbers 101 times out of 100 for NFL quarterbacks and Hooker missed too many.
• In the intermediate level of the field, Hooker suffers from the same struggles but at a higher rate. There were far too many throws that Hooker simply missed that had to be completed the majority of the time. Hooker also showed some trigger shy tendencies 15 yards and deeper. There were multiple times where he would progress to his second read who was open in the soft spot in zone, he would see them but then pump fake and exit the pocket.
• Hooker misses a lot of wide-open receivers down field that should be easy completions for chunk plays and walk-in touchdowns. He almost always missed his deep balls by overthrowing the receiver rather than underthrowing them so it is not a question of whether or not he can push it down field with deep balls.
• Against the blitz and with bodies around his feet, Hooker’s accuracy struggled mightily as he did not finish his throws, which were often being high and/or behind the receiver.
• Hooker’s overall arm strength is a slight area for concern. He did not show the capability to zip the ball into tight window throws as it almost looks like he does not finish his throws with the velocity in which they come out of his hand.

Floor/ceiling - Hooker’s combination of good (6) pocket presence, mobility, footwork and very good (7) leadership gives him the ceiling of a “win-with” starting quarterback. However, his sufficient (5) at best accuracy, eyes and abilities under pressure give him the floor of a career backup.

Grade - 6.3 - circumstantial starter/backup (first day of second season) - 4th round

Grade/explanation - Frankly, I do not get the hype on Hooker. If Tennessee did not beat ‘Bama last season and Hooker was not a Heisman contender due to numbers he put up in a very quarterback-friendly offense, I do not think there is nearly the same conversation being had around him. I am not going to sit here and say he is a bad quarterback; he has a good pocket sense and mobility and a very pretty deep ball at times. But there were dozens of plays where Hooker downright looked bad and like a career backup at best. Against Georgia he looked overmatched and uncomfortable which is concerning seeing as they were the best defense he played against. There are far too many aspects of his game that give me significant pause and honestly there are not many moments he has that I see a franchise quarterback in his game, let alone a full season starter.

Schematic fit - Hooker projects best in an option, spread offense that is run heavy with simple play action throws, similar to every Greg Roman offense.

Player highlights