Former Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker is the victim of some bad timing to end the NFL regular season
There are plenty of Detroit Lions fans hoping to see former Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker take the field in Week 18 against the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions are currently the No. 3 seed in the NFC and they have very little chance of moving into the No. 2 seed (and they can't fall to […]
There are plenty of Detroit Lions fans hoping to see former Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker take the field in Week 18 against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Lions are currently the No. 3 seed in the NFC and they have very little chance of moving into the No. 2 seed (and they can't fall to the No. 4 seed because of their lead over the NFC South teams still in contention to win that division).
That means Detroit can rest their starters in Week 18 if they choose as they prepare for a first-round playoff game.
Lions and Vols fans, as you can imagine, are eager to see what Hooker, a third round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, has to offer.
But unfortunately for those fans, it seems very unlikely that Hooker will start against the Vikings in Week 18.
For starters, Hooker, who tore his ACL to end his college career at Tennessee, just recently started practicing. That would be asking a lot of Hooker to be ready this quickly to face an NFL defense after not playing in a game since late 2022. That wouldn't be setting Hooker up for success at all. If anything, it would be setting him up to fail. As AtoZ Sports' Mike Payton recently pointed out, the Vikings are trying to make the playoffs and throwing Hooker into the fire against a team playing for the postseason would be a tough spot for the former Vol to make his debut.
Additionally, Week 18 will be Lions backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's last regular season NFL game. Bridgewater, who is arguably the best backup quarterback in the NFL, announced recently that he plans to retire after the 2023 season.
It would be poetic for Bridgewater to receive the start in Week 18 — especially since the game is against the Vikings, the team that drafted Bridgewater in 2014 (and where Bridgewater spent the first four years of his NFL career, which is his longest stint with a team during his 10 season career).
And let's not forget that if something happens to starter Jared Goff in the playoffs, it will be Bridgewater who enters the game. From a competitive standpoint, he needs the reps to end the season more than Hooker.
Fans will see plenty of Hooker next August when the 2024 NFL preseason rolls around and he's had a full offseason of work with the Lions. But for now, the timing just doesn't make sense for Hooker to make his debut.
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