Former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker revealed in a recent interview that the Tennessee Titans were the first team he met with at the 2023 Senior Bowl.

Hooker joined Ramon Foster, Kayla Anderson, and Will Boling on 104.5 The Zone on Wednesday morning live from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Hooker provided an update on his ACL recovery and his Senior Bowl experiences as he begins his NFL Draft process.

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Hooker might be the most unique prospect appearing before teams in Mobile this week. The First-Team All-SEC quarterback and SEC Offensive Player of the Year was invited to the Senior Bowl despite not being able to participate in the drills, workouts, or game.

Hooker is still in the early stages of rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered in November in Tennessee’s loss to South Carolina.

Despite that, Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy felt it was important for Hooker to have the opportunity to meet with teams at the event, saying "he was the face of college football for a good chunk of the season."

The 25-year old quarterback accepted the invitation, and says he is hope to impress teams with his "non-physical attributes" in meetings.

Hooker's first opportunity to do that came in front of new Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon and head coach Mike Vrabel. The Titans were the first of the 32 teams to sit down and meet with Hooker in Mobile.

"It's been a gauntlet of teams for sure. You meet with everyone and I just have a blast talking ball," said Hooker of his interviews. "The meeting with the Titans was really cool. Kind of a surreal moment for sure because that was the first team I talked to in the interview process. Just being able to sit down with the head man and talk ball was a blast."

The Titans will have a difficult decision to make this offseason regarding the future of quarterback Ryan Tannehill in Nashville. Hooker would not be a consideration to be selected with the Titans' first round, 11th overall pick, but their interest in selecting a QB in the draft will likely be determined by how they see the future of Tannehill playing out.

Hooker's ACL injury will hurt his draft stock, but whoever lands the former Vols QB in the draft will not regret it. He has consistently proved himself during his time in Knoxville, and there is little doubt he will continue to do so in these pre-draft meetings.

Image via Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports