Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker accepts Senior Bowl invite
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker has officially accepted his invite to take part in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Hooker is still returning from the torn ACL he suffered in November in Tennessee’s loss at South Carolina, ending his redshirt senior season.
The Senior Bowl will be played on February 4 in Mobile, Ala.
Hooker is currently ranked by ESPN as the fifth best quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft. He’s ranked No. 68 overall among draft-eligible players with a grade of 79. Quarterbacks ranked in front of Hooker are Alabama’s Bryce Young (95), Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud (93), Kentucky’s Will Levis (91) and Florida’s Anthony Richardson (86).
Extremely blessed. This has been a goal I set for myself at a young age, looking forward to making connections and watching my peers compete 🤝🏾
— Hendon Hooker (@henhook2) January 23, 2023
S/O @JimNagy_SB and the @seniorbowl committee. https://t.co/z26CVhuPFS
Three Vols to take part in Senior Bowl: Hendon Hooker, Darnell Wright, Byron Young
Other Vols taking part in the game include offensive tackle Darnell Wright and edge rusher Byron Young.
In 11 games this season, Hooker completed 69.6 percent of his passes, throwing for 3,135 yards, 27 touchdowns and two interceptions, leading the Vols to an 8-0 start before losing at Georgia.
He tore his ACL in the fourth quarter of the loss at South Carolina, with backup Joe Milton III taking over and winning in the regular-season finale at Vanderbilt, then beating Clemson in the Capital One Orange Bowl.
Hooker in two seasons at Tennessee passed for 6,080 yards, 58 touchdowns and was intercepted just five times. He completed 68.8 percent of his 632 pass attempts with the Vols, quickly proving to be the ideal trigger man in Josh Heupel’s uptempo offense.
Milton won the starting job in fall camp before the 2021 season, the first under Heupel, but was lost to an ankle injury in Week 2 against Pitt. Hooker replaced Milton and never let go of the starting job.
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“You look at Hendon’s career and the ups and downs that he went through,” Heupel said in December, “it’s a great lesson for everybody in the sport and in life. The ability to handle that and to come out on the other side.
“He’s so confident and comfortable in who he is. That’s why his college football journey took the path that it did. And, ultimately, he became one of the best players in college football and helped change a program.”
Hendon Hooker’s Tennessee career: 7,126 total yards, 68 touchdowns in 24 games
Heupel’s offense hit its stride with Hooker at quarterback in 2021, going 7-6 with a trip to the Music City Bowl. Hooker threw for 2,945 yards, 31 touchdowns and just three interceptions, while running for 616 yards and five more scores.
He was a Heisman Trophy candidate this season before going down with the injury, but was passed over as a Heisman finalist by USC’s Caleb Williams, TCU’s Max Duggan, Georgia’s Stetson Bennett and Stroud. Hooker finished fifth in the final voting for the award, which was won by Williams.
“He’s got an unbelievable future ahead of him,” Heupel said of Hooker. “This (injury) is a small bump in his journey. I know he’s gonna be tremendously successful as he gets to the next chapter in the NFL. He’s got to go through a rehab process, but he’s going to handle it the right way. And I know that because of what he’s done his entire life. His impact has been felt inside of our program while he was healthy, while he’s been injured. He’ll be a part of our program forever.”
