One NFL team might be the favorite to draft Hendon Hooker after first day of free agency
Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker is hoping to be selected in the early rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft
Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon could potentially be a first-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Several teams are high on Hooker — despite his torn ACL (he should be ready for the 2023 season) — because of his interviews and board work during the NFL Draft combine and Senior Bowl.
Hooker has impressed teams with his maturity, intelligence, and general demeanor.
While Hooker has helped his draft stock with those interviews, it's still a long shot that he's drafted in the first round. It seems much more likely that he'll fall to the second or third round.
After the first day of NFL free agency, one particular team has emerged as a strong potential landing spot for Hooker.
The Las Vegas Raiders signed quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to a three-year deal on Monday.
Garoppolo, who will turn 32 in November, isn't necessarily a longterm answer at quarterback for the Raiders.
In fact, the feeling among Raiders beat reporters is that Las Vegas will still take a quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft. But instead of taking a quarterback at No. 7, they could wait until later in the draft because of the Garoppolo signing.
If that's how the Raiders approach the draft, then Hooker is a very strong possibility for Vegas.
The Raiders have the No. 38 overall pick in the draft. And it was reported earlier this month that Las Vegas is "high" on Hooker. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the Raiders use that second-round pick on the former Vols standout.
This has been viewed as the ideal situation for Hooker. While he's maintained that he'll be ready for the start of the 2023 season, there isn't a team in the NFL that's going to gamble on that prognosis. You never know how an ACL recovery will go until the player is actually on the field going through workouts and working to get ready.
Landing with Las Vegas would give Hooker a chance to get healthy before competing with Garoppolo, a quarterback that wasn't viewed as a longterm answer in San Francisco.
There are some other situations that would make sense for Hooker (the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers, for example), but for now, the Raiders feel like the most likely destination for the former Vol.
