I like this new Hendon Hooker. Perhaps you haven’t met him yet. Let me introduce you.
The former Tennessee quarterback who quickly said during SEC Media Days that he wanted to be a coach one day and lead young men is now standing in front of the national media, NFL scouts and professional coaches extolling his virtues on the football field. Swagger? Yes, Hooker has it.
“I can make every throw,” Hooker said during the NFL Combine on Friday. “The way that we run our offense, the wide splits, those are all grown-men throws. I’m not throwing any five-yard outs. I’m throwing big-boy balls.”
The “splits” that Hooker is referring to is the spacing between Hooker and his receivers, who are often lined up closer to the sideline than the ball. It’s a hallmark of Tennessee coach Josh Heupel’s offense and it means his quarterback must have a strong arm to complete longer throws more often than not. That’s not new. However, Hooker’s outward confidence is different. While I’m sure some of that’s coached, it’s refreshing to watch an athlete be confident and not be cocky. Yes, that’s an attainable goal.
As for leading young men as a coach one day, Hooker can still do that after a long NFL career. However, there’s now an obvious realization by Hooker that he’s a bona fide NFL prospect. That wasn’t necessarily the case when he met with the media in Atlanta during the unofficial kickoff to football season in July. Yes, Hooker was confident, but it was nearly impossible to get him to talk about himself. That has changed.
Hooker’s torn ACL, which he suffered in a devastating loss to South Carolina in November, will be a concern among NFL scouts. However, with medical technology nowadays, that may not be the strongest apprehension about drafting Hooker, who will be deemed a product of Heupel’s system by many. Sure, anyone could break almost every passing record with Heupel’s gameplans, receiver combo routes and up-tempo pace, right?
“Any of these questions, they’re cool and all but if you really dig into our offense and actually watch the film, then you would understand it’s elevated to a whole other level,” Hooker said, “And how fast we’re going, I have to process a whole lot of information at the same time and communicate with everyone.”
But Hooker just throws it to wide-open receivers. How can he handle a complex NFL offense that is predicated on reading an entire defense, not just one side of the field as it appeared he was doing throughout his breakout season in 2022?
“I can’t help that these defenders can’t guard my receivers,” Hooker said with a smile. “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.”
Hooker also went into more detail about how there is more to his footwork than it might appear and how the Vols’ offense is more complicated to run than it might seem. Well, what’s he supposed to say? Hooker has taken coaching for the NFL combine questions as well as he took coaching about playing quarterback from Heupel.
Yes, Hooker is saying all the right things as he tries to shoot down critiques of his game, but he’s also doing more than just playing defense; he’s showing a whole new side of his game. The man with more intangibles than an apostle is showing he’s not scared of the NFL. He’s showing that he can handle whatever comes his way. That would boost him up significantly on my draft board.
