Jared Goff is firmly in place as the Detroit Lions starting quarterback for the next few years, and that was pretty clear heading into the 2023 NFL Draft. So it landed as surprising when a top-70 pick (No. 68 overall; after a trade up, no less) was used on quarterback Hendon Hooker.
Hooker had suffered a torn ACL late in his final college season at Tennessee, which was going to make his rookie season a "redshirt year." He was also an older prospect, already 25 years old at the time of the draft.
Hooker won the No. 2 quarterback job last year, if only by default as Nate Sudfeld proved incapable of providing legit competition. Hooker then got some action in a few blowout wins last season, but under those circumstances it was hard to tell if there was anything there.
Then late last season, the Lions brought Teddy Bridgewater back after he coached his high school alma mater to a state title. After that, Bridgewater was elevated over Hooker as the No. 2 quarterback for the Divisional Round game against the Washington Commanders.
Despite head coach Dan Campbell trying to say otherwise after Bridgewater was brought back, the Lions have shown their hand with Hooker. They've also pretty much crushed any trade value he might have had.
The Lions added journeyman Kyle Allen to their quarterback depth chart this offseason. ESPN's Ben Solak pointed out how that seemed to imply the Lions don't trust Hooker, if it wasn't already obvious.
It's only been one day of training camp and Hendon Hooker is on the wrong side of the roster bubble
The first training camp practice can be easy to overreact to. But sometimes things on Day 1 prove to be meaningful, and John Maakaron of SI.com noted the pecking order for reps under center on Sunday.
Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire was among the reporters present at Sunday's practice. While his overall assessment of Hooker's performance wasn't bad, he opened with the appropriate (and ultimately damning?) punch line.
"Hendon Hooker was, well, Hendon Hooker. Just as was the case last season, he mixes in some outstanding throws with some ponderous misses."
The Lions have usually rotated their backup quarterbacks between the second and third-team offense during training camp, so Hooker is in line to get plenty of run with the backups. And as Justin Rogers of Detroit Football Network noted in his observations from the first camp practice, Allen should push Hooker to improve like Sudfeld simply could not a year ago.
The general thought is that the No. 2 quarterback spot is Hooker's to lose, with Allen only as a very periphery threat to beat him out or just a fallback option. Until further notice, it's easy to believe that sentiment.
But if Allen wins the job, which is hardly out of the question, keeping Hooker as the No. 3 quarterback would feel completely pointless. It would mean he's made no real progress over the course of two healthy offseasons, two full training camps and two preseasons. This year, there would be no lingering injury excuse for his performance.
Yes, it's only been one practice, with a lot to be determined. But Hooker was already on shaky ground, and now he's starting training camp on the wrong side of the roster bubble.
