Got a few questions in for Hendon Hooker about the New Orleans #Saints. Started with the time he’s spent with them this off-season. Lots of glowing reviews of the organization and many connections he’s held on to from Knoxville to New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/Rf16RvMtts
— Ross Jackson (@RossJacksonNOLA) March 3, 2023
There might not be a prospect in the 2023 NFL draft drawing more attention from New Orleans Saints fans than Hendon Hooker, and the Tennessee quarterback prospect had a lot of praise for the team during his Friday morning media session at the NFL Scouting Combine. He’s been one of the most prolific passers in college football over the last two seasons, but factors including his age (he turned 25 in January), a knee injury that could sideline him for the start of training camp, and the wide-open offense he played in have some observers feeling credulous about his pro prospects.
Our own Ross Jackson was in attendance with boots on the ground (or in his case, Allbirds; Hooker shared some tips on shopping for Air Jordans) and he got a couple of questions in with Hooker on his contact to the Saints through this pre-draft process. While Hooker hasn’t met with the Saints at the combine yet, he did have extensive contact with them earlier in the offseason, which he characterized as, “A get-to-know-me type of situation. We talked a little ball, it was a great process. … Great organization, great people, great football minds.”
When asked about any relationship with Saints wider receivers coach Kodi Burns, who held the same post at Tennessee in 2021, Hooker was all smiles. He reminisced: “Spent a lot of time with him, he was telling me about his quarterback days at Auburn. He’s a great guy, great football mind as well. He implemented a lot of good plays at Tennessee that worked in our favor.”
And quite a few of Hooker’s former teammates are on the Saints’ roster — the Knoxville-to-New Orleans pipeline, as Jackson put it. A number of Vols are on the depth chart on both sides of the ball, ranging from Alvin Kamara (who Hooker said has given him some advice on the pre-draft process) and Marquez Callaway to Alontae Taylor and Shy Tuttle. Other former Volunteers like Bryce Thompson and Ethan Wolf have also gone through the organization.
“Yeah, it’d be cool (to join them),” Hooker grinned. “Cool pipeline. I have communication with every one of those guys. I had dinner with Alontae Taylor last week. He came out to California, he was working out, so I had dinner with him, he told me about the things he encounters down in New Orleans.”
Hooker is projected to be picked in the second or third round of this year’s draft, and though he isn’t throwing in front of teams at the combine (he also said that he’ll be medically cleared to stand and throw for the first time since November’s knee injury next week) he’s going through interviews, weigh-ins, and all of the other experiences that factor into final evaluations. He’s someone who should be on the play when the Saints are on the clock at Nos. 40 or 72 overall. But if they like him well enough, maybe they consider him earlier at No. 29. We’ll just have to see how this develops and where things go for them in free agency.
