Hendon Hooker shares where he stands in injury recovery

Hendon Hooker progressed after he tore his ACL last season with Tennessee. Now in the NFL Draft process, Hooker feels like he’s ready when the time comes.

Hooker said he anticipates being ready for the start of the season, for whoever drafts him. Heck, the former Volunteers quarterback was pretty adamant about his skillset.

But as far as his knee, Hooker is getting closer.

“So the next checkpoint is in a week and a half and get to drop back,” Hooker said. “Actually take some actual drops, but I feel good. Just coming out here and being able to be back on the field and throw it to my guys has been a blast.”

Hooker is only warming up, so it’s been a challenge for him not to go 100%.

“Very difficult. I’m getting a lot of a lot of pushback from my mom about me just warming up,” Hooker said. “So it’s very difficult not to be able to go out here and do what I love.”

He went on to say running in a straight line could occur in three weeks, based on his doctor’s advice. After Hooker was pressed about the start of the season, he made sure to note his doctor said he’d be good for the regular season.

Last season, Hooker put up Heisman Trophy numbers before his injury. He had 3,135 yards, 27 touchdowns, two interceptions, a 69.6%, 430 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.

“So a lot of these questions about one-sided reads and stuff, we have pure progression routes,” Hooker said of the Tennessee offense. “It’s not my fault my first read is getting open. But we have pre-snap looks, one high, two high. Which side. Double footwork combo. We have pure progression with an alert, with an option. So, you know, any of these questions, they’re cool and all, but if you really dig into our offense and watch the film then you would understand it’s elevated to a whole ‘nother level. And how fast we’re going, I have to process a lot of information at the same time and communicate with everyone.”

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As a member of the Class of 2017, Hooker was a four-star recruit out of Greensboro (N.C.) Dudley, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 8 overall prospect in the state, the No. 25 quarterback in the class and the No. 354 overall prospect in the class.