Lions use 3rd-round pick on ex-Vols QB Hooker

Hendon Hooker will continue his comeback trail in the Motor City.

The Detroit Lions selected Hooker with the 68th overall pick in the NFL draft Friday night, making the former Tennessee star the franchise’s highest drafted quarterback since Matthew Stafford went No. 1 in 2009.

The Lions’ front office has made it clear that Jared Goff is the franchise’s starting quarterback for the moment, but the three-time Pro Bowler is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the 2024 season.

The selection of Hooker, who is recovering from a torn ACL, could therefore be a move for the future by Detroit. Hooker said he’ll immediately embrace a role of being a “sponge” under Goff’s tutelage.

“To come in and learn everything, every nuance on how to be a pro first and foremost, and then just admire him,” Hooker said of learning from Goff. “He’s been in the league for a long time, and he’s been doing a great job of developing every year to get better and better, and that’s all you can ask for.

“I’m definitely going to be picking his brain as much as I can. I’m going to get annoying to him a little bit, but I’m just that type of person. I just want to get in and do my job and continue to get better day by day.”

Hooker also is the first quarterback drafted by the Lions under third-year general manager Brad Holmes, who had decided to build out other areas of the roster before addressing the quarterback position through the draft.

“Obviously, he’ll be a rookie and he’s gonna have to transition into playing in a different type of scheme, but we’re real excited about his upside,” Holmes said. “How NFL-ready are a lot of quarterbacks that you acquire? And that’s just part of the normal development process and again, just a testament of I think we have the right situation for him just to come and sit back, see how Jared and Nate do things and just develop.”

Hooker was enjoying an outstanding 2022 season with the Volunteers until he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in November, clouding his status for the 2023 NFL season.

Hooker’s surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, recently sent a letter to all 32 NFL teams stating that Hooker is on a timeline to be fully cleared by the first weekend of the 2023 season, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

But Hooker wouldn’t put a timetable on his official return, saying he has worked his way back to the field to start running and throwing passes without much pain. Prior to the injury, he was a Heisman Trophy contender before ultimately finishing fifth in the voting, which was the highest by a Volunteers player since Peyton Manning in 1997.

Hooker, 25, completed 69.6% of his passes for 3,135 yards with 27 touchdowns and two interceptions in 11 games last season. He also rushed for 430 yards and five TDs.

Holmes decided to select Hooker after taking a deep dive into his overall style of play, medical records and frequent talks with his previous college coaches before the Lions staff grew comfortable with his intangible qualities to run the position. Detroit isn’t putting any pressure on Hooker to play immediately, as they’ll let him fully heal before taking any risks.

“I’m taking it day by day, continuing to control what I can control and keeping a great attitude and work,” Hooker said. “That’s all I can do. While I was on my visits, I’m working in the hotel room, continuing to keep my upper body and lower body in some type of shape.

“When I came back home, everyone was like, ‘Dang you look real big,’ because I was doing a lot of sit-ups, push-ups and crunches.”

Holmes shares a longtime connection with Hooker through his father Alan, who enjoyed a Hall of Fame career as a quarterback at Holmes’ alma mater, North Carolina A&T, from 1984 to 1987. Hooker’s brother Alston is also a redshirt sophomore quarterback for the Aggies and their mother, Wendy, also attended North Carolina A&T.

“His dad — he’s a Hall of Famer at my alma mater, and it’s really cool to have that connection,” Holmes said. “But again, that’s not the reason why we acquired him. But it is cool and may give him a little bit of comfort. We chatted about it a little bit on the visit, but he comes from a really good family and Alan’s a good guy.”

Hooker is excited to start his career around a familiar face.

“[Holmes] and my dad go back many years that they’ve been friends and had a relationship,” Hooker said. “It’s cool when he called me and he said, ‘It’s cool to call a Greensboro number,’ and we had a good laugh about that. Awesome guy, and we had a great conversation on my visit. It’s always cool to have someone around you with some sort of connection.”