The Detroit Lions still have optimism for Hendon Hooker, a 2023 third-round pick who enters the season competing for the backup quarterback position behind starter Jared Goff.
Hooker, 27, is entering the third year of his NFL career. He was sidelined for most of his first, as he rehabbed a torn ACL suffered in college. The Tennessee product was granted his first taste of NFL action last year, playing in all three preseason games and making three regular season appearances in mop-up duty.
Given the fact that he missed his entire rookie offseason and got his first opportunity to go through training camp last year, he still stands to benefit greatly from the chances to compete that the offseason provides.
With organized team activities approaching as the next benchmark of his development, Hooker is impressing in offseason workouts and team meetings.
“He’s doing great. A new opportunity for him, a new year, another year of growth. What is this, three (years)? He’s a puppy, and he’s still young. Does he have a lot of growth? Yeah, there’s some things that we’ve got to work on," said quarterbacks coach Mark Brunell. "But that’s the same case for every other young guy that’s going into his third season. There’s a lot of things to work on."
Hooker served as the backup for the entirety of the regular season, but was relegated to the emergency third spot for the playoffs after the Lions added Teddy Bridgewater late in the year. Bridgewater stepped in as the backup, and wound up playing a series when Goff exited the Divisional Round loss to Washington briefly.
The Lions will once again have competition for Hooker in 2025, this time with veteran Kyle Allen. Beating out Allen will be a new challenge for the Tennessee product, as Allen has legitimate experience with 19 starts and 31 total appearances.
“It’s great. Competition is great all around. That two spot is open, so it’s good. Nothing is given to you in this league, and you’ve got to earn it," Brunell said. "And once again, Hendon finds himself in a position where he’s going to have to earn that second spot. It starts now, and obviously it’s preseason but it’s our OTAs, it’s any time we’re on the field, it’s all of that. And he’s off to a very good start, which is good. He’s getting better.”
Footwork focus
Hooker will be learning from a new offensive coordinator in 2025, as John Morton takes over for Ben Johnson. Morton was on staff with the Lions in 2022 and has pledged to not change much of the offense, so it's unclear exactly how much new material Hooker will have to learn.
Though Morton has yet to work with him in a team setting ahead of OTAs, he is putting an emphasis on improving each of the quarterbacks' footwork. In doing so, he believes this will lead to improvements with timing and ball distribution.
“I’m still learning him, and it’s just, ‘Get better at this every day.’ Whatever it is, footwork, it’s a lot of the footwork. Being around the quarterback for a few years, my last few years, I’ve learned a lot of the techniques of the footwork and how to get the ball out, how you read the play, so you can play a lot faster, so everything’s nice and smooth," Morton said. "That’s with every quarterback, every quarterback is doing that every single day. Do you have the proper footwork? Are you making the right decisions? And when you do that, you’re going to have the proper footwork and it’ll help you be more accurate."
Brunell has already seen strides being made with his footwork early in offseason workouts. He has displayed an understanding of the offense, and in turn is able to operate quicker within the scheme.
Now, he must continue to show consistency when the team takes to the field for OTAs and training camp. He'll have the added benefit of an extra preseason game with Detroit playing in the Hall of Fame game, and with the Lions traditionally avoiding playing their starters Hooker should get plenty of game reps over the four-game slate leading up to the regular season.
"Every year he is just going to get better. We’ve already seen it just in the couple weeks we’ve been on the field. He’s throwing the ball better, his footwork is better, and he understands our concepts," Brunell said. "This has been really good for him. And, as we go, the kid, because of his focus and his attitude and his work ethic, he’s naturally just going to become a better quarterback. When he gets out there preseason, I imagine he’s going to get a lot of reps. You’ll see a better version of him than you did last year, and I’m excited about that.”
