When Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell made his ascent from mid-major star to first round pick in the NFL draft at the University of Toledo, he did it with safety Maxen Hook beside him every step of the way.
After Hook signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Eagles, that might be part of the formula for Mitchell’s ascent to becoming one of the NFL’s best defensive players as well.
The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner singled out Hook, a 4-time All-MAC selection, as one of the top undrafted free agents in the NFL in 2025.
“One of Quinyon Mitchell’s secondary mates at Toledo, Hook was a four-year starter for Jason Candle’s Rockets and proved to be one of the MAC’s most consistent safeties,” Baumgardner wrote.
While Hook might be a long ways from cracking the starting lineup for the defending Super Bowl champions — like Mitchell did from Day 1 — there’s a great chance he could make the 53-man roster by making an impact on special teams and being a serviceable backup at both of the safety spots.
“Maxen Hook … was a player the consensus had a draftable grade on The Eagles have a lot of intel due to HC Nick Sirianni & Toledo HC Jason Candle being roommates at Mt Union,” X user @PHLEagleNews wrote on its official account. “Maxen & Quinyon were roommates & close friends in College … Maxen has game!”
Hook Produced Big-Time Stats at Toledo
If we’re doing the Moneyball thing with the Eagles’ roster, Hook seems like the kind of player any NFL team might want.
Hook was a stats-producing machine at Toledo, where he finished his career with 356 tackles, 7 interceptions and 15 pass deflections. He also had least 2 interceptions in each of his last 3 seasons and 3 interceptions in his last season with Mitchell in 2023.
Mac capped his career in 2024 with a career high 107 tackles.
“I feel like Maxen Hook has a real chance to stick on this roster and become a Sirianni favorite,” All About The Birds podcast host Temp Daddy wrote on his official X account. “(Special Teams) will be the key, and he strikes me as the kind of kid that will excel there.”
NFL Draft Expert Projected Hook as Late-Round Pick
Hook, 6-foot and 202 pounds, turned in a solid if not spectacular performance at the NFL scouting combine in February, where he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.55 seconds and recorded a vertical leap of 34.5 inches.
“(Hook) is big and fast and he’s going to be a stud on special teams,” one anonymous AFC scout told NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein.
Zierlein projected Hook as a fifth round pick, which is usually the territory where there’s not much gray area around whether a player will get selected or not. That means the Eagles may have already gotten some incredible value with his UDFA contract.
“Four-year starter with the size, speed and production to catch the attention of NFL evaluators in the middle rounds,” Zierlein wrote. “Hook patrols the field with a tangible urgency to fly around and make plays. He’s rangy over the top in coverage and plays with tremendous hustle to rack up tackles.”
