Hendon Hooker Doesn’t Offer Enough Upside To Be Minnesota’s Franchise Quarterback

This offseason for the Minnesota Vikings has been filled with roster turnover and a lot of uncertainty. However, one thing is clear, the Vikings have been preparing for life after Kirk Cousins. Despite Cousins’ representation’s best efforts to work out a new extension, the Vikings front office has held firm in their desire for Kirk to play out the remainder of his contract which expires after the 2023 season.

The Vikings have also put a considerable amount of effort into scouting this year’s quarterback class. While the team has made a concerted effort not to reveal who they may be targeting, the Vikings have met with a few quarterbacks ahead of the draft including Anthony Richardson, Will Levis, Tanner McKee, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson. However, one of the quarterbacks that they’ve done “extensive” work on is Hendon Hooker out of Tennessee.

Hooker, who is often billed as a dual-threat quarterback, had a career year at Tennessee in 2022. He threw for 3,135 passing yards, rushed for 430 yards, all while throwing 27 touchdown passes and just 2 interceptions. As of late, his draft stock has risen from a Day 2 pick, to someone who is expected to be drafted in the first round. While Minnesota is seen as a potential landing spot for Hendon Hooker, he doesn’t offer enough upside to be the Vikings’ franchise quarterback.

I watched 15 games Hendon Hooker played in, starting from his time with Virginia Tech, all the way to his final year at Tennessee. It’s clear that Hendon possesses some very likable traits, and I understand why some scouts are so high on him. The first thing that I noticed when watching Hendon Hooker is just how accurate he is as a passer.

Part of that can be attributed to Tennessee’s spread offense which enabled Hendon to get the ball out quickly. The Volunteer offense ran a lot of slant routes, crossing routes, and RPOs. All of which made Hooker’s job a lot easier. This play below isn’t overly impressive, but it illustrates just how confident Hendon Hooker can be when things are simplified for him.

Hooker is also very good at identifying one on one coverage and exploiting those mismatches. In this next clip below, the Hokies are in the red zone and Hooker has two 1v1 matchups on the bottom of the screen. One of his receivers is going to run a slant route, while the other is going to run a fade. Hooker does a good job of not only identifying the matchup pre-snap, but waiting until #14 is able to set a legal pick which allows Turner to get enough separation for Hooker to quickly and accurately throw the pass for the touchdown.

Hendon is also accurate in throwing the ball downfield. He doesn’t have a gunslinger mentality by any means, but if a receiver is wide open like Jalin Hyatt is on this play below, Hendon Hooker is capable of getting the ball into the hands of his playmakers. Hooker’s accuracy on all levels of the field is what really gives him a higher floor than some other quarterbacks in this draft class.

Yet, I wouldn’t exactly label Hendon Hooker as a pocket passer. Even though he’s accurate throwing the ball from the pocket, Hendon’s game really comes to life when he’s able to assert himself as a threat running the ball. Virginia Tech’s offense placed a stronger emphasis on establishing the run, and Hooker was a key component of that. There are two things that are noticeable when it comes to Hooker’s abilities as a runner. First and foremost, he has good contact balance when running between the tackles. Notice in this play below how Hendon is able to split between the two defenders and keeps his legs moving after contact.

Another thing to note about Hooker’s style of running is that he’s quick. On this play, watch how quickly Hooker is able to get to his top speed. The first 10 yards of that play, Hendon was in a different gear. Hooker’s combination of contact balance and acceleration will give defenses trouble if it’s not accounted for.

That being said, Hendon Hooker is by no means an elite athlete. This was apparent when he was going against Georgia’s #1 ranked defense, which featured Eagles DT Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter on the defensive line. On the play below, Hooker does two things wrong. First is his lack of pocket awareness which is a major concern. #4 beats the left tackle with a speed rush and has a wide-open lane to the quarterback. Hendon doesn’t realize it until the last second, and is able to evade the would-be sack by ducking under the defender. Now Hooker has a bit of an angle. A player like Lamar Jackson or Justin Fields would be able to outrun #41, but Hooker isn’t fast enough to get past him. How Hooker will fare against NFL-caliber athletes is a big concern, and he’s going to need to improve his pocket awareness to compensate for that lack of pure athleticism.

Hooker is also rather inefficient when the threat of him running the ball is no longer present. The most blatant example of this came in crunch time against an in-state rival. In this next clip, with less than two minutes left in the 4th quarter, the Hokies are down by only a field goal. Hooker needs to execute the two-minute drill with precision and pace. What does Hendon do? He takes three consecutive sacks and loses a fumble in his own end zone. Hooker failed to elevate his team when it mattered most, and Virginia Tech ended up losing the game.

Hendon is also a bit of a checkdown charlie, even in situations where he should be more aggressive throwing the ball downfield. Like in the play below, Khalil Herbert is wide open deep downfield. Hooker could’ve thrown the ball to him but instead threw a checkdown. There was also another play on film where Hooker had a free play after a defender was offsides. Instead of recognizing the situation and taking the shot downfield, Hooker immediately threw a checkdown. Plays like these make me feel like Hooker’s completion percentage is a bit inflated. He’s still an accurate passer, but a lot of his completions were on the safe side.

Technically speaking, Hendon Hooker is an accurate dual-threat quarterback who played against the highest level of competition in the last two years of his collegiate career. However, there is a bit of a caveat to that. He’s not in the same tier as guys like Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields, or Lamar Jackson. Hendon Hooker is a dual-threat quarterback in the same way that Daniel Jones is. Like Daniel Jones, Hooker can give you problems if he is not accounted for. However, neither of them is the kind of player that will absolutely gash defenses on the ground on a weekly basis.

When you factor in his age, injury history, lack of pure athleticism, and inability to consistently go through his progressions, you start to see Hendon Hooker for what he really is. An aging system quarterback with some likable traits who will need time to develop before taking the reigns as a starter. The Vikings would be taking on a lot of risk by drafting Hendon Hooker, and I just don’t think there’s enough upside to justify drafting him over other more athletic quarterbacks.