Hendon Hooker NFL Draft Scouting Report

QB, Tennessee Volunteers

Hendon Hooker began his college career at Virginia Tech before grad-transferring to Tenenssee ahead of the 2021 season. Between Tennessee and Virginia Tech, Hooker started 37 games. Hooker’s father was a star quarterback at North Carolina A&T, where Hendon’s younger brother is currently a quarterback. In high school, Hooker led his team to two state championships and also starred in basketball were he was a three-time All-Metro conference selection. 

Hooker didn’t initially earn the Volunteers’ starting role in 2021, but it didn’t take long for him to take the reins and flourish. He took that experience from 2021 and delivered one of the most prolific seasons in the country, leading the SEC in passing efficiency, total offense, completion percentage, and yards per attempt. Hooker features a sturdy frame with good height and big hands. He has good arm strength that is capable of driving the football outside the numbers and pushing the ball down the field. He has impressive moments of accuracy to all levels of the field. I love how clean his lower-body throwing mechanics are. He sets a consistent base and finds consistent sequencing for both quick throws and shots down the field. His feet are quiet in the pocket. Hooker is an athletic quarterback with good mobility, offering a dual-threat skill set. His physical ability creates a wide-open playbook.

Hooker operates in a vertical spread tempo offense with very little translatability to the next level. The receiver alignments are incredibly wide and the vertical passing concepts are mostly foreign to the NFL. The system feasts on manufactured spacing with very little progression-style passing. Hooker isn’t tasked with making many decisions and throws are often predetermined. Hooker hasn’t showcased himself as a quarterback who makes anticipatory throws with consistency. Further complicating his projection to the NFL is that he turns 25 in January of 2023 and tore his ACL late in the 2022 season and may need to take a full redshirt year in the NFL. 

Hooker’s age, injury status, and adjustment to the next level make him a complicated evaluation. There is appeal for him as a developmental starter if everything comes together but he at least should provide value as a backup. 

Top Reasons to Buy In:

• Size and mobility
• Quiet mechanics 
• Accuracy 

Top Reasons For Concern:

• Age
• Recovering from ACL injury
• Adjustment from vertical spread tempo offense 

Size (NFL Combine):

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 217 lbs

Arm Length: 33”

Hand Size: 10 1/2”

Athletic Testing (TBD):

40-yard Dash: 0.00s

Vertical Jump: 00”

Broad Jump: 000”

Short-Shuttle: 0.00s

Three-Cone: 0.00s

Bench Reps: 00 reps 

Ideal Role: Developmental quarterback 

Scheme Fit: Spread

Prospect Comparison: Geno Smith (2013 NFL Draft) 

TDN Consensus Grade: 73.50/100 (Fourth-Round Value)

• Marino Grade: 73.50/100

Written By: Joe Marino

Exposures: Pittsburgh (2021), South Carolina (2021), Georgia (2021), Alabama (2021), LSU (2022), Alabama (2022), Kentucky (2022), Georgia (2022)

Hendon Hooker NFL Draft Scouting Report. Add him to your big board here.