The New Orleans Saints are one of several teams that have met ‘extensively’ with Tennessee Volunteers quarterback prospect Hendon Hooker, per the Draft Network’s Ryan Fowler. Projected to be a second- or third-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft, Hooker set the college football world on fire last season by following up his breakout 2021 passing line (31 touchdown passes against 3 interceptions, completing 68% of his throws) with even greater efficiency in 2022 (27 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions with a 69.6% completion rate). He averaged 9.7 and 9.5 yards per pass attempt in each year as the Vols’ starter, adding 1,046 rushing yards and 10 touchdown runs along the way.
But a mid-November knee injury cut his Heisman Trophy campaign short, and now Hooker is continuing to recover while expecting to participate in training camp come July. Fowler adds that the Las Vegas Raiders, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, and Dallas Cowboys are among the teams to have spent the most time with Hooker thus far.
