Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker said earlier this month that UT football gets a lot of disrespect. 

"We play with a chip on our shoulder at Tennessee," said Hooker at the draft combine. "We get a lot of disrespect."

Most Vols fans likely know Hooker is speaking the truth. But if there are any folks out there who don't believe him, Tennessee's offense recently received a heavy dose of disrespect from Pro Football Focus. 

Pro Football Focus analysts Sam Monson and Steve Palazzolo recently discussed Tennessee's offense on the "PFF NFL Podcast". 

Monson made it clear that he can't stand Tennessee's offense (a sentiment that Palazzolo agreed with). 

"I hate that offense so much," said Monson. "It's not applicable to the NFL. So when we're projecting all of the guys out of that offense to the NFL, it's abstract…the wide receivers are having to answer like 'I can run routes. I know how to do it'. But, like, you ran three routes in college."

"Hendon hooker is operating this theoretical offense where you're only ever reading half the field," continued Monson. "And it's not even a full half-field read where you're working through a progression. It's just an either-or concept. Like you have a crossing pattern of some description, a route concept that goes against the defense, and all you have to do is decide 'do I hit the left guy or the right guy?' It's not playing quarterback. It's doing something different."

"So when you're looking at Hooker and saying he can be QB five (in the 2023 NFL Draft) — which a lot of people are — it's because he's got prototypical size more or less. Because he's got speed, because he's got all the tools. But projecting what he's doing in college, from an offensive point of view, to what he's going to have to do in the NFL is barely even worth attempting because the offense is that absurd. So if you're using like, touchdown to interception ratio, you're just wasting everybody's time because that's irrelevant."

The conversation happened while discussing where Hooker should be selected in next month's draft. 

But while Monson and Palazzolo hate the Vols' offense and think it will impact how Hooker is evaluated by NFL teams, folks that actually work in the NFL (that have spoken to the media) see it differently. 

An anonymous NFL quarterbacks coach, for example, recently told The Athletic's Bruce Feldman that Hooker is trending to overtake Kentucky's Will Levis as his QB 4 in the draft. He also said he'd be shocked if Hooker doesn't make it in the NFL in some capacity. 

“Hendon was great," said the anonymous QB coach to The Athletic's Bruce Feldman. "He is trending to overtake Will Levis on my rankings. Will is more talented as far as arm strength and size, but I think Hendon might run faster, he’s more nimble and has more throws in his arm. He was so mature. He remembered both offenses, from Tennessee and from Virginia Tech, in such detail. He talked about the route depths and the reasonings behind certain things. He was very even keel. I would be shocked if he doesn’t make it in some capacity."

ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller reported earlier this week that he's spoken with teams in the NFL that said Hooker is "acing interviews and board work". 

Talked to a handful of teams about TENN QB Hendon Hooker this morning. He's acing interviews and board work.

With 4 QBs expected in top 10, I don't think Hooker waits long into Round 2 if he makes it that far. He had a Round 1 grade on my board pre-ACL injury

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) March 11, 2023

It sounds like Hooker has a firm grasp on NFL offenses and concepts, despite what PFF's Monson and Palazzolo would lead you to believe. 

There's no doubt that Tennessee's offense operates differently than a traditional pro-style offense. 

But why is that a bad thing? Offenses are always evolving. And Tennessee's offense is effective (No. 1 scoring offense in college football last season). 

This is a silly narrative that seemingly won't go away. Even with guys like Patrick Mahomes, a player who came from an Air Raid offense at Texas Tech, dominating the NFL, non-traditional college offenses are still blasted by certain members of the media (note: Tennessee doesn't run the Air Raid, but it's viewed in the same vein by many as the Vols' offense). 

This is something that Tennessee is going to have to deal with until Hooker or another Vols quarterback excels in the NFL. That's not how it should be — there are so many more factors that go into finding NFL success — but unfortunately, that's the case.