Former Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker praised the returning Volunteers' receivers

Ahead of SEC media days, former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker joined the set of SEC this Morning. There, he was asked about the returning wide receivers at Tennessee.

As Hooker explained, the Volunteers may have lost a couple of players to the NFL Draft and graduation, but there are still tons of talented players returning to Knoxville.

“Yeah, so like Ramel [Keyton] is a very selfless player,” Hendon Hooker said. “Came in last year, like you said, made some huge plays and whenever we needed to lean on him, he was there, as well as Bru McCoy. Bru McCoy works extremely hard and he’s a big body. He makes big-time catches in big-time games and [is] another one of those guys who’s just selfless.”

Hooker also praised Squirrel White for his explosive capability but admitted that he’s so fast that it sometimes made it hard to throw to him accurately. Now, the big-armed Joe Milton is going to be the one looking to blow the top off the defense in 2023.

“And then Squirrel White speaks for himself. His speed is immaculate. It’s always kind of hard to throw to him because he’s moving so fast. It’s like, ‘Okay, do I lead him? Do I put it right on him? If I put it right on him, I might throw behind him.’ So, it’s just always amazing to see him against DBs because you see the separation so quick.”

On top of those returning players, Hendon Hooker also pointed out that Tennessee is also adding a key transfer from Oregon in Dont’e Thornton.

“Then they also have transfer Dont’e Thornton, who is a special case himself. He’s gonna be a big-time player.”

So, while Tennessee needs to replace talented players like Jalin Hyatt, Hendon Hooker is confident that the Volunteers have the talent to do that and remain explosive on offense in 2023.

Hendon Hooker on transitioning to a mentorship role for Joe Milton

After his injury in 2022, Hendon Hooker had to stop being the big man on campus and transition into a mentorship role for Joe Milton, who he is good friends with. As he explained, it wasn’t easy to do at first.

“It was tough, I think that night, me and Joe kind of sat down on our couch, and a couple rest of our teammates came through. We just had a discussion, and everybody was just high in spirits and looking forward to our next game,” Hooker said.

“I was just motivating those guys to go out and finish what we started, no matter what had happened that previous day or that previous game, let’s continue to do what we do and prepare the right way.”