If not for a torn ACL late in his final college season, Hendon Hooker might have been a Heisman Trophy finalist. Beyond that, he would surely have been taken earlier than the third round of the 2023 draft. After a trade down the Detroit Lions took him 68th overall, knowing his rookie season would be a "redshirt year" as he worked his way back from that torn ACL.
As things move (however slowly) toward an inevitable contract extension for Jared Goff, Hooker's outlook in Detroit is cloudy. He was already an older prospect entering the league, and he's 26 years old now. As a stark example of his age, Lamar Jackson was 26 years old last year;
his sixth NFL season.Depending on the length of Goff's extension, Hooker may not see significant snaps during his entire rookie contract. In a broader sense, Goff would have to go down to a significant injury for Hooker to play. That's where any critique of drafting him, with his older age laced in, can start.
Ryan Mathews of Pride of Detroit recently asked the question, "What if Hendon Hooker is good?" It's a hypothetical, which Dan Campbell has acknowledged the sheer unknown element of, along the fine lines of his age, is he a tradeable asset if he proves capable? and having used a top-70 pick on him to have him be backup if things go as expected.
How important is Hendon Hooker to the Detroit Lions?
On Monday's episode of "Karsch and Anderson" on 97.1 The Ticket, the hosts talked about Hooker.
Scott "Gator" Anderson has great interest, as most people do, in seeing how Hooker looks during the summer.
"My reasoning is simple: He was the best quarterback in college football before he got hurt", Anderson said. "(I'm) dying to hear and see what Hooker looks like this summer after he spent most of last season rehabbing from surgery: "Does he have a grasp on the offense now? Is he going to look like a deer in the headlights or is he going to look competent and like he can handle the position? That’s what I want to see."Because you know he’s got the physical tools, he’s got the ability. I’m not expecting him to unseat Jared Goff. I’m expecting him to be the guy who looks like he can step in if Goff gets hurt."
Looking good in shorts and a t-shirt is worth what it's worth (not a lot), but looking healthy and sharp during OTAs will be a meaningful step for Hooker.
Co-host Doug Karsch went a little further, calling Hooker "an incredibly important Detroit Lion" this season and moving forward.
"If I’m trying to win a Super Bowl, I need a quality backup quarterback. I need somebody who can win a game on short notice because my guy got banged up", Karsch said. "I am not foolish enough to expect our quarterback to make it through 17 games for the (third) year in a row," says Karsch. "You don’t get to decide if your quarterback gets hurt or not, and I’m scared that we got lucky. Last year, half the quarterbacks in the league missed time."
Hooker is the Lions' No. 2 quarterback this year unless or until something changes that equation. He has no path to starting right now, but he does have to show signs he can capably step in if something happened to Goff during a season that has legit Super Bowl aspirations.
The current backup quarterback plan will have to change if Hooker does not show sufficient progress. So that does make him a pretty important player for the Lions right now, perhaps very sneakily as more meaningful offseason work looms.
