Hendon Hooker vs Kyle Allen vs ?

The Detroit Lions will begin training camp in less than two weeks when rookies report on July 16. Until then, we're going to be making predictions on the biggest camp battles of the summer. 

Today, we're going to be talking about the backup quarterback battle between Hendon Hooker and Kyle Allen and we're going to predict a winner. First, let's talk about what both bring to the table and add a little spice with another prediction. 

Hendon Hooker 

This is Hooker's third season with the Lions, but really just his second in terms of getting reps and being a participant in camp and the preseason. This is a very big summer for him to show the Lions that he is the guy they saw at Tennessee when they drafted him. 

He has a strong arm and can get mobile when needed. There is no doubt that Hooker is an athlete. Where he seems to struggle is with the mental side of things. He holds onto the ball a little too long and appears to maybe overthink where he wants to go with it. 

This has led to him taking sacks and, in some cases, fumbling the ball. When he looks to correct that, he may overcorrect a big a get rid of the ball a little too fast. A good example was last year in the red zone, he threw two different interceptions to Khalil Dorsey in practice on the same play when he was trying to get a quick pass out on a not-so-great angle. The plays were identical. 

He's also fighting against his age. He'll be 28 years old when this season is over. 

Kyle Allen

Allen is an interesting case. He came into the league as an undrafted free agent and then wound up taking the Carolina Panthers' starting job from Cam Newton after Newton got hurt. He was their guy for the remainder of the season, and he did ok. Just ok. 

Since then, he's been a career backup for the Commanders, Bills, Texans, and Steelers. He's had some starts here and there, but the days of him being a full-time starter are gone. 

Like Hooker, he has strong arm. He can throw the ball pretty much anywhere or any distance you need him to. He does struggle with accuracy though and also like Hooker, he struggles with the mental side of the game. This was one of the big knocks on him coming out of college. He struggled with pressure, and it would lead to inaccurate throws or check-downs. 

A possible third man? 

At the end of the day, the Lions may want to spice things up by bringing in a third quarterback to challenge for that QB2 spot. Hooker and Allen are capable of doing things with the ball, but that mental stuff might force the Lions to want to find someone they feel a little more comfortable with. Like how they did with Teddy Bridgewater last season. 

In my opinion, that third guy should be Michigan Panthers quarterback Bryce Perkins. Nobody is going to say he has the same type of arm talent we've seen in Hooker or Allen, but when you see Perkins play, you can tell he fears nothing out there and just sees the field in a different type of way. It's surprising that no NFL team has signed him yet after he won the UFL MVP. 

Who's getting the job?

I've gone back and forth on Hooker and Allen for a while now. Sometimes I think it's Hooker and other times I think it's Allen. Right now, I have to say I think it's Allen's job. The reason is the experience. He has it while Hooker has very little. 

Allen has started games in the NFL, and he's helped teams win games in this league. For those reasons, I have to go with him ahead of camp. We'll see what happens once the pads come on.