College coach makes strong statement about Hendon Hooker in comparison to Will Levis and Anthony Richardson
Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker hasn't typically been listed among the top quarterback options in the 2023 NFL Draft. Most draft analysts have Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Will Levis, and Anthony Richardson as the top four options. Hooker is listed by many of those analysts as the fifth-best option. But that could be changing. As […]
Tennessee Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker hasn't typically been listed among the top quarterback options in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Most draft analysts have Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Will Levis, and Anthony Richardson as the top four options. Hooker is listed by many of those analysts as the fifth-best option.
But that could be changing. As the draft gets closer, the adoration for Levis seems to be dwindling while the love for Hooker is increasing.
On Friday, The Athletic's Bruce Feldman published his first-round mock draft and he has Hooker going to the Minnesota Vikings with the No. 23 overall selection.
Feldman provided a couple of tidbits from coaches that faced Hooker in 2022 and one of those (anonymous) coaches made quite the statement about the former Vol quarterback in comparison to Richardson and Levis.
The anonymous coach — who resides in the SEC East because he faced all three quarterbacks last season — suggested that Hooker is smarter than Richardson and Levis. He also said he thinks Hooker's arm might be "better" than Levis' arm.
From The Athletic: “Big Hendon fan. He was the smartest of the three QBs we saw (Richardson, Levis and Hooker). I like his decision-making and he has a really quick release. That system really fit him. I thought he was a Donovan McNabb-type. Obviously, he got that ACL (injury). I think he’s really underrated. I think Hendon’s arm might be better than Levis’.”
Hooker said this week that he still expects to be ready for the start of the 2023 season after tearing his ACL near the end of the 2022 season. If teams feel confident that he'll be healthy and ready to contribute in 2023, it's certainly possible he could sneak into the first round of the draft.
