Instant Reaction: Hendon Hooker slides to third round in NFL Draft

What the NFL Draft analysts said on the ESPN and NFL Network sets after Hendon Hooker was picked 68th overall on Friday night in Kansas City, selected by the Detroit Lions in the third round.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.: “He’s come a long way. When he left Virginia Tech to Tennessee, two great years for Josh Heupel. He’s about 6-3, 217. In that Josh Heupel quarterback-friendly offense, lit it up. Over the last two years, 63 percent or higher (completion percentage) in 20 of 23 games. Shotgun only. They got the ball out in fast fashion. Can be a little too quick at times to take off and run, but he doesn’t throw any interceptions. High percentages of passes were completed. Now when the pressure came, the accuracy waned just a bit. The system, as I said, allowed success. Joe Milton, not only was he the MVP of the Clemson (game), Clemson was upset by Tennessee, underdog, upsets Clemson. Joe Milton in for the injured Hendon Hooker. But Joe Milton didn’t even have Cedric Tillman and Jalin Hyatt in that game. He had three touchdown passes and the MVP. So I think people wondered is it Hendon Hooker, the system, combination of both? Bottom line is he’s 6-3, 217 with an NFL arm. He can move. He had 10 rushing touchdowns in 2020 at Virginia Tech. He’s super confident. He can move, he can extend plays. He’s going to have to adapt from that system to the national football league.”

ESPN’s Louis Riddick: “I never got the sense he was under pressure when he was playing the game. When stuff was going crazy around him in the pocket, I thought this guy kept his eyes down the field. He was cool, calm and collected. I saw him hit the short stuff, the intermediate routes, the timing routes. He can throw the deep ball beautifully. I can tell you this is the best thing I like about this. He’s going to the Detroit Lions where the quarterbacks coach is Mark Brunell. Guess who else dealt with an ACL injury in college and had to come back from it? And came back form it in six months. Mark Brunell. They do things very smart up there in Detroit in terms of how they’re targeting players and bringing players in here to be coached, man.”

ESPN’s Booger McFarland: “What I love about his is his decision making — 58 touchdowns, five interceptions over the last two years. To me, that is the No. 1 quality my quarterback has to have. He has to make good decisions. The best deep-ball thrower in this draft, Hendon Hooker.”

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah: “There’s a lot of discussion about them going running back, linebacker in the first round. Well, they turn around and get the most important position here in the third round with a ton of value with Hendon Hooker at this point in time. The offense he played in, you guys touched on it, it’s that old Baylor system. They’re going to spread you from sideline to sideline. It creates a lot of space, you get a lot of vertical shots, particularly from the slot with Jalin Hyatt this year. The accuracy, the ball placement is pristine. It’s a lot of catch, rock, throw in the pocket. You don’t see him have to move around in the pocket too much. You get glimpses like this, though, of the athleticism to escape and make some things happen, some designed quarterback runs. You can sprinkle that in. You’re not going to want to major in it. But there were three questions about him, why he’s here in the third round. It was age, it was injury and it was the offense. And the teams that met with him said we have no concerns about his ability to transition to an NFL offense. The injury is going to be fine and the age, it is what it is.”

NFL Network’s Joel Klatt: “You talked about he didn’t move around a lot when he did need to leave the pocket he can. But that’s by design and it’s actually the most difficult part of this offense. It’s a wide receiver-based offense where they’re running read routes down the field. So he’s just got to sit in there and allow those receivers to make those decisions before he unleashes down the field. And for a guy that was throwing it deep down the field, 70-percent completion percentage. Over 70. Set a Tennessee record. This guy can throw it down the field with efficiency and accuracy.”

Entering Thursday night’s first round, ESPN’s ranking of the best available players for the NFL Draft has Hooker ranked No. 5 among quarterbacks — Alabama’s Bryce Young was No. 1, ahead of Stroud, Florida’s Anthony Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis — and ranked No. 33 overall with an 86 grade.

Hendon Hooker passed for 6,080 yards, 58 TDs, 5 INTs in two seasons at Tennessee

Hooker completed 69.6 percent of his passes in 11 games at Tennessee last season, throwing for 3,135 yards, 27 touchdowns and two interceptions. He tore his ACL on November 19 at South Carolina after leading the Vols to an 8-0 start to the season and a No. 1 ranking in the first College Football Playoff Top 25 of the season.

In two seasons with the Vols, after transferring from Virginia Tech, Hooker passed for 6,080 yards, 58 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He completed 68.8 percent of his 632 pass attempts.

“I mean, his touchdown-to-interception ratio is as good as anybody in the history of the game,” Heupel said Thursday morning during an appearance on the ‘Ramon, Kayla and Will’ Show on 104.5-FM The Zone in Nashville. “His decision-making, his accuracy, his ability to make plays with his feet, how decisive he is with his eyes, fundamentally how sound he is, being in a balanced position in the pocket, pocket movement and then escaping and making plays.

“He’s going to be able to correlate everything he’s done through his college career. I think that’s going to help him transition really quickly into the NFL. It’s going to allow him to play at a really high level really quickly. And obviously he’s an infectious leader.”

ESPN’s Pre-Draft Analysis — Hendon Hooker

Steve Muench: “Hooker has a smooth, compact delivery and can change his arm angle when needed. His accuracy to all three levels of the field is solid, and he leads his receivers to yards after catch in the quick game. His ability to throw deep stands out — he was more consistent driving the ball with velocity in 2022. He excelled at beating the blitz last season but struggled when opposing defenses pressured him with four or fewer rushers. He’s a legitimate running threat with good speed and the ability to elude defenders.”