That’s no good. The 2022 college football season took a hit this week when Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Hendon Hooker went down with an ACL injury, sidelining one of the most exciting players in the country just as things were picking up with bowl season on the horizon. It’s a big loss for the sport just from an entertainment value perspective, and it’s disappointing to see it happen to a player who had really come into his own on a big stage.
And the ramifications are long-lasting. Hooker is a top prospect for the 2023 NFL draft even with this injury added to his scouting report. He’s also been frequently connected to the New Orleans Saints in mock drafts (most recently by our own Luke Easterling over at Draft Wire just last week). The Saints will be looking for a quarterback in 2023 with Jameis Winston underperforming and the 35-year old Andy Dalton playing out a one-year deal, so Hooker is likely on their radar.
New Orleans doesn’t own a first round pick in 2023 after trading it to the Philadelphia Eagles, so they won’t be able to select anyone until they’re on the clock in the second round (right now, projected at No. 41 overall). Hooker wasn’t a sure thing to go in the first round even before this injury owing to the limited offense he ran at Tennessee and his age, which is old for NFL standards; he’ll turn 25 in January, making him the third-eldest quarterback to be drafted behind John Beck (who was 26 in 2007) and Brandon Weeden (28 in 2012).
Age and injury history aren’t the biggest concerns when it comes to scouting college quarterbacks, but NFL teams commit a lot of resources towards evaluating them anyway. It remains to be seen how heavily they’ll weight against Hooker. Former Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Jameson Williams wasn’t able to work out for pro teams after suffering a season-ending knee injury back in January, and he only recently returned to practice, but the Detroit Lions still traded up to get him midway through the first round.
A better example might be former Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, who suffered a similar ACL injury to Hooker back in Nov. 2017. He was able to return and start all 16 games the following season, which suggests Hooker could hope for a similar timetable. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow ended his rookie season with a mid-November knee injury (tearing both his ACL and MCL) but he returned to start every game in 2021, leading his team to the Super Bowl.
Obviously every injury and situation is different, but we’ve seen quarterbacks overcome them before in less than a year, and there’s a good chance this doesn’t impact Hooker’s draft status much one way or another. He was probably going to be a second-day pick anyway, and that lines up with where the Saints are expecting to make their first selection. That’s not to make light of it, though. He could have really helped his case by being able to throw in front of teams and go through all of the usual athletic testing and timing drills. It’s a shame that he won’t be able to make his case to the fullest extent.
So we’ll be watching him closely in the months ahead to see how he progresses through recovery. The Saints have made no secret of drawing talent from Tennessee, including recent second-day draft picks like Alvin Kamara (third round) and Alontae Taylor (second round). They hired the Volunteers’ former wide receivers coach Kodi Burns this offseason and should have an inside track on Hooker as a prospect.
If they like Hooker but aren’t confident he’ll be healthy next September (or ready to start right away), maybe pairing him with a stopgap quarterback like Dalton or Jimmy Garoppolo in the spring could be the move. Maybe Winston is willing to stick around, though it feels like his time has run its course in New Orleans. Until the Saints know for certain that they’ve landed their next franchise quarterback, they can’t afford to stop looking for help.
