Hendon Hooker says his game reflects Deshaun Watson, Josh Allen

Hendon Hooker is making the media rounds as he prepares for the 2023 NFL Draft, where he’s starting to rise up draft boards a little bit. One game every draft analyst and NFL fan likes to play is: who is the best pro comparison for X prospect? Of course, comparisons rarely bear out as very accurate whatsoever, but regardless, people tend to have fun with the premise.

So, this week, Hooker was asked just that: which current NFL QB would he compare himself to? Instead of immediately pointing out a few superstar names, Hooker explained that he likes to take little part of a lot of quarterbacks when watching an opposing team’s film.

“Yeah, honestly whenever I’m preparing for a game, on Thursday I usually look at the the previous five games that the team that we’re about to play has played and the things that the quarterbacks have done that worked against that defense and I’ll try to implement some of that into my game. And, you know, since I’ve seen it work I know that, hey, I can use this and it’ll work against that defense.”

Man, that’s an interesting answer and a cool insight into how Hendon Hooker approaches watching film and scouting for his opponents. After that comment, though, then he named a few superstars he’d compare himself to.

“So really I look at everybody. I feel like my game most resembles Deshaun Watson and a little bit of Josh Allen as well. But that’s about it.” Josh Allen, huh? We have enough quarterbacks in this draft (ahem, Levis and Richardson) who’ve already been compared to Allen.

Purely as a prospect, the Watson comparison is the one that makes the most sense. Throw out last year’s performance since it was in a brand new place after he had missed two whole years prior to playing. But go back and look at who he was for the Texans since the start of his career and you can see why Hooker believes they’re similar.

Neither Watson or Hooker have bodies like Anthony Richardson. Heck, they don’t even have great arms and aren’t particularly fast though they can scramble. However, the pair of college studs had a knack for making winning plays and taking care of the ball. Not always flashy, but for Hooker, always efficient.

It’ll be fascinating to see how he climbs before he’s ultimately picked. Certainly feels like there’s a world where a team either trades up or talks themselves into this veteran SEC superstar in the late first or second round of the draft. If nothing else, he can certainly be a top backup, you would think.