JD PicKell: The potential Heisman moment for Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker

Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker has caught some Heisman trophy buzz this offseason as he goes into his second season at the helm of Josh Heupel‘s fast paced offense. Vegas currently has Hooker at +4500 odds to bring the Heisman trophy back to Knoxville, and On3’s JD PicKell thinks the key to doing so will be a signature win in November.

“For Tennessee, you have to give Hendon Hooker a chance to have his Heisman moment, and the Heisman moment that I have circled is November 5th at Georgia,” PicKell said. “It’s towards the end of the year, obviously being in November, the playoff race is starting to take shape, the SEC race is starting to shape, ultimately byproducts by process of elimination the Heisman race is starting to take shape. If Hendon Hooker and Tennessee can come into that game with one loss and beat Georgia in Athens, that would create a lot of juice around his Heisman trophy campaign.”

On The Hard Count with JD PicKell, PicKell also explained that in order for Hooker get his Heisman buzz going this season, that the Vols will have have a relatively blemish free record going into their November matchup against the Bulldogs.

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“Now the one loss on the schedule that I would allow is Alabama, like if you lose to Alabama, you know it happens, happens to a lot of people, happens to most people, happens to most teams. But you can’t have another loss on the schedule and that’s easier said than done being in the SEC and given the schedule that Tennessee has, that’s probably a big ask,” PicKell said.

Alabama does have two Hesiman favorites on their own roster in quarterback Bryce Young and linebacker Will Anderson, but if the Vols can stay relevant and stack up wins throughout the season Hooker can also find himself in the mix come December.

“But plus 4500 odds, those are the odds for a reason, you got to have Tennessee be in position to get Hendon Hooker that award. So if he can pop off against Georgia, at Georgia and they have a big win and then they still only have one loss the rest of the year, I think Hendon Hooker could very much find himself in New York,” PicKell said.

PicKell ultimately believes Hooker’s Heisman campaign comes down to the performance of his entire team. Hooker last season accounted for 3,561 yards (fourth in the SEC last year and fourth all time in Tennessee history) and 36 total touchdowns, but on 7-6 team.

“Now, there are a lot of big ifs, and again that’s why that odds are what they are but going back to the original point I said at the beginning of this video, football is the greatest team game in the world, you don’t win individual awards individually,” PicKell said. “It’s the greatest misconception in all of college football; anyone who wins the Hesiman trophy is there because their team has kept up their end of the bargain and allowed that specific player to shine.”

If the Vols want to get their quarterback in New York at the end of the year, they’ll have to continue to take the strides they made last season and find themselves towards the top of the SEC.