Hendon Hooker

[Kyle Cactus]

True but they could trade down and pick up 2 2nd round picks. We've seen that before. I don't know if it's worth it in this draft though. It's not very deep

Maybe the lack of depth is one of the reasons DeCosta was OK with trading away our 2nd for RS.

[Mark]

Possibly, but you can't count on it. In a shallow draft pool, trading back may add to your picks, but how much quality will you get? ... Bc

The lack of depth in the draft may also mean there may not be much difference between what you get near the bottom of the 1st and what is available in the 2nd. If this is the case on the Ravens board, I could see a trade down being likely.

[edromeo]

Things i see and like:
-mechanically sound, smooth, consistent traditional throwing motion

-plus level arm strength, ability to easily throw the a comeback or deep stop route from the college far hash to the sideline

-solid and consistent throwing base, wide enough, cleats in the ground, throws with his body as a whole connected unit

-comfortable working from the pocket, moves and manages it well, willing to stand in there and not bail early to make a throw under pressure knowing he's gonna get popped

-when it comes to standing in the pocket and delivering the football anywhere on the field Hooker is up there with Stroud for me

-leadership...from our 10,000 feet away vantage point leadership is impossible to assess 1st hand. But, like with Jalen Hurts, leadership is a strength for Hendon Hooker...(if interested listen to this kid talk about football...combine presser, other interviews etc).....also helps to have Peyton and Eli as mentors

-underrated very productive runner....Anthony Richardson receives a ton of praise for his running ability but his max season total rushing is only a whopping 34 yards more then Hooker's max rushing yard season

-can make all the throws, he get's knocked for the heupel-briles spread but within that offense you can see Hooker make all the throws....Slants, Posts, Vertical, "Read" Go-Routes and Stop Routes, Hitches, Fades

-one of the best of deep ball throwers in the draft and a high volume deep ball passer, one of the highest depth of target in the draft

-High efficiency QB...2nd only to CJ Stroud

My negatives:
-committed to the scheme and maximizing each play call...perhaps to a fault like Stroud

-not a creative off schedule playmaker...he doesn't really scramble or create in an out of the pocket off schedule situations...he seems to do his work from the pocket or runs...he's not gonna be confused for having the rare Bryce Young houdini level creativity

-not a sudden athlete like Bryce, Stroud, Richardson to avoid sacks within the pocket and scramble out


Negatives that other people mention that don't mean that much to me:

INJURY
Tore ACL late November. Jan 31 was about 6 weeks removed from surgery in Dec.

**ACL return to sport can be anywhere from 6 months to 12 months, commonly within 9 months.**
Reference ACL injury with similar injury date: DeShaun Watson tore his ACL. Nov.2. 2017

Watson had surgery on his right ACL just seven months ago after he tore it in an early November practice. At the beginning of the on-field portion of OTAs that began at the end of May, Watson took the field with his teammates for the first time since his surgery.

Watson went to participate in training camp - 2018: passed 4,165 rushed for 551

From the combine medical eval:
Hendon Hooker gets good news on ACL recovery at NFL Scouting Combine

#Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker, who tore his ACL in November, received positive medical reports here in Indy, sources say. He's three months after the operation and on track to be ready for the season opener. 2:32 PM · Mar 4, 2023

Feb 8th- throwing from 1 knee.
March 11th - Already started throwing.
Now that DJ put HH in the 1st round of his mock its hard to find previous articles about his recovery but i distinctly recall that HH was slated to start running at the end of the month.

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sport...3/69860552007/

AGE
Hendon Hooker turned 25 in Jan. For reference Joe Burrow was 24 when he was drafted.
Does 1 year make that much of difference? Not to me.
QBs can play into their 40s...i'm not worried about career longevity.

I'm one of the people that 100% buys into the age being draft factor in positions that require physical mano-e-mano contest. Age is a draft factor for a 25 y/o DL beating up on 19-20 y/o OL. But for me QB isn't one of those positions.

QB is a position where leadership and maturity matter. Hooker has plus leadership and his age probably helps him in that regard.

SCHEME
Hooker played in Josh Heupel's an unorthodox spread offensive system. Its a tangent of Art Briles veer option super spread system with extra wide splits that featuring wide receivers running option routes. I'm not exactly sure the knock about the offense other than its harder to evaluate? I don't think the scheme gave Hooker any more advantages then any other good offensive scheme or schemes with superior personnel. Almost every QB will have to adjust and learn a new offense when they get to the pros. Hooker's learning curve might be a steeper or longer but then again it might not. I remember not to long ago people were knocking Justin Herbert because of his system. Heupel's offense isn't pro-style but its not easy for the QB to execute and Hooker was #2 efficiency behind Stroud playing in a scheme where Hooker regularly didn't know what route the primary read was gonna run....and only threw 2 interceptions.

[leachisabeast]

Here's how i see Hendon Hooker -

Things i see and like:
-mechanically sound, smooth, consistent traditional throwing motion

-plus level arm strength, ability to easily throw the a comeback or deep stop route from the college far hash to the sideline

-solid and consistent throwing base, wide enough, cleats in the ground, throws with his body as a whole connected unit

-comfortable working from the pocket, moves and manages it well, willing to stand in there and not bail early to make a throw under pressure knowing he's gonna get popped

-when it comes to standing in the pocket and delivering the football anywhere on the field Hooker is up there with Stroud for me

-leadership...from our 10,000 feet away vantage point leadership is impossible to assess 1st hand. But, like with Jalen Hurts, leadership is a strength for Hendon Hooker...(if interested listen to this kid talk about football...combine presser, other interviews etc).....also helps to have Peyton and Eli as mentors

-underrated very productive runner....Anthony Richardson receives a ton of praise for his running ability but his max season total rushing is only a whopping 34 yards more then Hooker's max rushing yard season

-can make all the throws, he get's knocked for the heupel-briles spread but within that offense you can see Hooker make all the throws....Slants, Posts, Vertical, "Read" Go-Routes and Stop Routes, Hitches, Fades

-one of the best of deep ball throwers in the draft and a high volume deep ball passer, one of the highest depth of target in the draft

-High efficiency QB...2nd only to CJ Stroud

My negatives:
-committed to the scheme and maximizing each play call...perhaps to a fault like Stroud

-not a creative off schedule playmaker...he doesn't really scramble or create in an out of the pocket off schedule situations...he seems to do his work from the pocket or runs...he's not gonna be confused for having the rare Bryce Young houdini level creativity

-not a sudden athlete like Bryce, Stroud, Richardson to avoid sacks and be elusive in the pocket


Negatives that other people mention that don't mean that much to me:

INJURY
Tore ACL late November. Jan 31 was about 6 weeks removed from surgery in Dec.

**ACL return to sport can be anywhere from 6 months to 12 months, commonly within 9 months.**
Reference ACL injury with similar injury date: DeShaun Watson tore his ACL. Nov.2. 2017



Watson went to participate in training camp - 2018: passed 4,165 rushed for 551

From the combine medical eval:
Hendon Hooker gets good news on ACL recovery at NFL Scouting Combine

Feb 8th- throwing from 1 knee.
March 11th - Already started throwing.
Now that DJ put HH in the 1st round of his mock its hard to find previous articles about his recovery but i distinctly recall that HH was slated to start running at the end of the month.

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sport...3/69860552007/

AGE
Hendon Hooker turned 25 in Jan. For reference Joe Burrow was 24 when he was drafted.
Does 1 year make that much of difference? Not to me.
QBs can play into their 40s...i'm not worried about career longevity.

I'm one of the people that 100% buys into the age being draft factor in positions that require physical mano-e-mano contest. Age is a draft factor for a 25 y/o DL beating up on 19-20 y/o OL. But for me QB isn't one of those positions.

QB is a position where leadership and maturity matter. Hooker has plus leadership and his age probably helps him in that regard.

SCHEME
Hooker played in Josh Heupel's an unorthodox spread offensive system. Its a tangent of Art Briles veer option super spread system with extra wide splits that featuring wide receivers running option routes. I'm not exactly sure the knock about the offense other than its harder to evaluate? I don't think the scheme gave Hooker any more advantages then any other good offensive scheme or schemes with superior personnel. Almost every QB will have to adjust and learn a new offense when they get to the pros. Hooker's learning curve might be a steeper or longer but then again it might not. I remember not to long ago people were knocking Justin Herbert because of his system. Heupel's offense isn't pro-style but its not easy for the QB to execute and Hooker was #2 efficiency behind Stroud playing in a scheme where Hooker regularly didn't know what route the primary read was gonna run....and only threw 2 interceptions.

I want him at #22

[GOTA]

I want him at #22

No way can I use #22 on Hooker. I'd have to move down to round 2. Between his age, injury and system the 1st round is just too high for me.

[BcRaven]

Yeah I was assuming a trade scenario for the 2nd rounder. If the Ravens pick any QB with their limited picks, it's an indication that Lamar is probably not going to be in Baltimore for long.

Due to the LJ situation, he's put a roadblock on any way of thinking. The team is hand-cuffed. EDC probably has various scenarios on a black board somewhere, but until this situation gets resolved he won't be using his eraser... Bc

[ShadeRaven]

Hendon Hooker at 22 would certainly be interesting

[Shas]

If Lamar plays on the tag, Hooker with a 2nd or 3rd round pick makes a lot of sense.

The Ravens don't have a 2nd round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft

True but they could trade down and pick up 2 2nd round picks. We've seen that before. I don't know if it's worth it in this draft though. It's not very deep

Today in the Athletic Zrebiec reviews who the pick in round one may be. After rattling off his, coveted but "unlikely to fall" list, and his, likely to come off the board when the Ravens pick list, he lists Hooker in the third tier, as a potential best-available pick if their board goes awry.

No one here is exactly lobbying for Hooker in round 1, and Zrebiec admits it's a stretch, but he indicates Hooker would be unlikely to be there when the team picks next, in round three.

I also immediately thought about trading out of the pick in 1 to take him in 2. I like Hooker a lot and told a friend who is a Bears fan to keep an eye on him, but that was before Fields emerged as being a solution in Chicago. I like Levis more than most people I talk to.

For the record, here is Zriebec's list of fits for the Ravens who could reasonably be available when they pick in round one, with colleague Dane Brugler's overall ranking in parentheses ...

Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland (No. 31)
Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College (No. 55) (I would also put Flowers higher than 55, personally)
Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Mississippi State (No. 34)
Quentin Johnston, WR, TCU (No. 25)
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State (No. 26)

[drdelaware]

I have an issue with the Ravens drafting an injured player 2 years in a row. Nothing against Hooker.

[jonboy79]

No way can I use #22 on Hooker. I'd have to move down to round 2. Between his age, injury and system the 1st round is just too high for me.

So the catch 22 is that his injury actually adds value to the 5th year option of being a first round pick.

As an example, Ojabo only has 3 years to show if he is a player…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ravensfan7716]

No way can I use #22 on Hooker. I'd have to move down to round 2. Between his age, injury and system the 1st round is just too high for me.

Yeah Hell not to taking him at 22.

[wickedsolo]

I dont think they should take Hooker at 22. If they want to draft him, they better find a partner to trade down with.