Tennesse quarterback Hendon Hooker will be taking an official pre-draft visit with the Green Bay Packers, according to ESPN’s Matt Miller. Hooker will also be meeting with New Orleans and Tennesse and has a “packed” schedule with pre-draft visits, Miller would add.
Hooker, who stands 6’3″ and weighs 217 pounds, has a big arm, is athletic, and was one of the most accurate passers in college football this past season. Although he played in the very scheme-friendly Volunteer offense, Hooker’s numbers speak for themselves.
His 2022 season was, unfortunately, cut short due to an ACL injury, but prior to that, he completed 69.2% of his 331 targets at 9.5 yards per attempt with 27 touchdowns to only two interceptions, per PFF.
Of all quarterbacks with at least 300 pass attempts, Hooker ranked sixth in completion percentage, and it’s not as if he was dumping the ball off frequently, either. Hooker would rank 11th in average depth of target and 11th in completions of 20-plus yards as well.
The 2021 season told a similar story, with Hooker completing 69.1% of his passes that year at 9.8 yards per attempt with 26 touchdowns and three interceptions. During that two-year span, he also rushed for nearly 1,300 yards.
Hooker is The Draft Network’s fifth-ranked quarterback in this year’s draft class. For more on his game, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com had this to say:
"“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. 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.”"
Once Aaron Rodgers is traded, the Packers will have only two quarterbacks on the roster, that being Jordan Love and Danny Etling. Although there is value in bringing in a veteran to be the backup, the Packers are limited in what they can spend in free agency. So with the Packers in search of a backup while also needing more depth, drafting a quarterback is very much in play. In fact, I’d be a little surprised if they didn’t select a quarterback at some point.
Now, whether or not that drafted quarterback will be Hooker remains to be seen. For one, many draft analysts are projecting him as a Day 2 pick–and would the Packers have any interest in taking a quarterback that high? For what it’s worth, former GM Ted Thompson did select Brian Brohm in Round 2 and Matt Flynn in Round 7 of the 2008 NFL Draft, the same year that Rodgers was going into his first season as the starting quarterback.
On top of that, at 25 years old, Hooker is actually older than Love, who will be entering his fourth NFL season. With that said, Hooker is clearly one of the more talented quarterbacks in this class, and if he ends up available at a certain point in the draft – what that point might be remains an unknown – the Packers very well could have some interest, given that there is a need along with the potential value of the selection.
In addition to Hooker, the Packers will also have Dontayvion Wicks, Marte Mapu, Keaton Mitchell, Will McDonald, Darnell Washington, Jordan Howden, and Jammie Robinson in for visits as well. Each team gets 30 official visits prior to the draft.
Of the Packers’ 30 pre-draft visits from a year ago, six ended up selected by Green Bay in the draft, with three more spending time with the team in some capacity last season.