Todd McShay reveals why Detroit is such an outstanding opportunity for Hendon Hooker

Former Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker was one of the most electrifying signal-callers in the nation during the past two seasons with the Volunteers. On Friday night, the Detroit Lions finally made him their quarterback of the future, by picking him No. 68 overall in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Following Day 2 of the draft, ESPN’s Todd McShay took some time on SportsCenter to speak in-depth about why he thinks the Lions are an excellent landing spot for Hooker.

“First of all, this is another good opportunity. Because Hendon Hooker goes in. Yes, he’s 26 years old. He’s 26 in January. And he’s coming off the ACL injury, so he’s gonna need some time. And certainly, he’s gonna have time behind Jared Goff, who’s coming off a career-year for the Lions. Now, what you have is the opportunity of one year, to show that you can be the guy moving forward. Maybe it takes two years, but time is ticking a little bit. But, ultimately, he’s coming from a scheme in Tennessee that’s going to be very different in terms of what he had in college to what he has in the NFL with the Detroit Lions,” McShay said on Friday night.

“But he’s smart. Everyone I’ve talked to in the league, GMs even tested him, go back and tell us the verbiage and tell us the installs and plays at Virginia Tech. And he did it like it was yesterday. And that was three years ago. So, this guy’s gonna pick it up quickly. The question is, can he show enough to Detroit in about a year or so, even though he’s recovering from the knee injury, to say you know what, we’ll move on from Jared Goff and have a much cheaper, less expensive version of Goff in Hendon Hooker. So, it’s gonna be interesting to see how it plays out, but it certainly is a very good opportunity for Hooker,” McShay said.

In being selected by the Lions with the No. 68 overall pick, Hooker became the highest quarterback selected by Detroit since the 2009 draft, when they selected Matthew Stafford. If he can eventually win the starting job, he’ll have a number of exciting weapons to work with in the Lions’ highly explosive offensive attack, including Jameson Williams, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Jahmyr Gibbs.

Before going down with his ACL injury this season, Hooker completed 69.6 percent of his passes for 3,135 yards, while tossing 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions. As a runner, he had 104 carries for 430 rushing yards and five touchdowns. He was one of the nation’s leading Heisman candidates for much of the 2022 campaign and deservedly so.

It’ll be exciting to watch him develop in the NFL the next few years, once he recovers from his ACL surgery. His surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, recently sent a letter to all teams across the league. In the letter, he let teams know that Hooker is set to be cleared by the first weekend of the 2023 NFL season.

For his entire collegiate career, Hooker put up 11,053 total yards of offense. He completed 66.9% of his passes for 8,974 passing yards, while tossing in 80 touchdowns and just throwing 12 interceptions. Hooker also added 2,079 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns on the ground.

In the 2017 cycle, Hooker was rated as the No. 25 quarterback prospect in the country, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He played his high school football for Dudley High School (Greensboro, North Carolina).

What NFL Draft Analysts are saying about Hendon Hooker

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein provided the following analysis of Hooker, while also comparing him to Desmond Ridder of the Atlanta Falcons.

“Hooker’s age and ACL tear will be starting points for many draft conversations, but the most important question to be answered is whether he can thrive outside of the Tennessee offense,” Zierlein wrote. “Hooker was frequently a half-field reader, which means he could lean on spacing, speed and/or route combinations to make life easier. He’s more accurate outside the numbers than between the hashes and his deep ball placement was much more uneven than expected. However, Hooker plays with excellent poise and footwork as a pocket passer.

“He will make quarterback coaches and play-callers happy with his adherence to keeping plays on schedule. He’s still showing signs of improvement and growth at the position, and his ability to hurt teams with his legs creates opportunities to help his offense outside of what he does in the pocket. His recovery from the ACL tear will require monitoring, but he has the talent to become a starter in a timing-based, spread offense.”

On3’s Riley Gates also contributed to this article.