Watch: Former Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker scores first NFL touchdown
Hendon Hooker scored his first NFL touchdown Saturday, running seven yards for a fourth-quarter score that helped the Detroit Lions beat the Kansas City Chiefs 24-23 in the second week of the preseason.
Hooker, who split time with Nate Sudfeld, finished the game 12-for-15 passing for 150 yards and rushed five times for 11 yards. Last week he went 5-for-9 for 36 yards with four rushes for 34 yards in a 14-3 loss to the New York Giants.
Hooker is competing for a roster spot alongside Sudfeld, backing up starter Jared Goff. The Lions in May signed Goff to a four-year, $212 million contract that runs through the 2028 season. Hooker is currently on a four-year, $5.7 million rookie contract that runs through the 2026 season.
Hendon Hooker keeps it for the score 🙌#DETvsKC | 📺 Lions TV Network pic.twitter.com/hor0mVtTWO
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) August 17, 2024
Lions head coach Dan Campbell said after drafting Hooker that his rookie year would be a “redshirt year” while Hooker continued to rehab his torn ACL.
“He’s got to get this leg right first and then he’ll learn under Jared (Goff),” Campbell said at the time, “and then let’s see what happens. If he can eventually become your (No. 2 quarterback) or maybe down the road, later on, it’s more than that, but it’s going to be a long time.”
Hooker tore his ACL in November 2022, ending an incredible two-year run with Tennessee Football that saw him pass for 6,080 yards and throw 58 touchdowns against just five interceptions.
Lions drafted Hendon Hooker in third round of 2023 NFL Draft
In 2022 Hooker threw for 3,135 yards, 27 touchdowns and two interceptions, completing 69.6 percent of his passes, in 11 games before suffering the season-ending injury. He passed for 2,945 yards with 31 touchdowns and three interceptions in 2021.
He transferred to Tennessee after two years at Virginia Tech, where he passed for 2,894 yards, with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Hooker was the fifth quarterback taken in the 2023 NFL Draft, selected by the Lions in the third round at No. 68 overall, and started a run of four Vols taken in the third round over a span of nine selections. Jalin Hyatt (No. 73, New York Giants), Cedric Tillman (No. 74, Cleveland Browns) and Byron Young (No. 77, Los Angeles Rams) followed shortly after Hooker finally heard his name called.
Campbell said after minicamp in June that Hooker would have to “take another step up” to earn the backup quarterback spot.
“We need to feel like by the end of [training] camp this guy can run this offense,” Campbell said. “He’s somebody that we know we can play the game a certain way. We know he’s going to be able to process the information. He’s going to get us in the right play and he’s going to keep the ship afloat. That’s it.”
“We don’t need him to come in and win a game,” Campbell said. “You just want to feel like, ‘all right.’ So obviously, he’s going to need to take another step up.”
