Hendon Hooker Already Has a Connection to Vikings
Dustin Baker
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On the outside looking in at the NFL draft’s “Big Four” quarterbacks is Hendon Hooker, the signal-caller from the Tennessee Volunteers.
C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Will Levis, and Anthony Richardson are all the rage with the draft three weeks away, while the 25-year-old and recovering-from-injury Hooker will likely latch onto a new club after Round 1.
Hendon Hooker Already Has a Connection to Vikings
And mock-draft brains have theorized Hooker’s new team as perhaps the Minnesota Vikings, a club committed to the current QB1 Kirk Cousins for just one more season. The Vikings don’t have much draft capital at the moment, arguably need a Cousins successor, and should probably start planning for Cousins’ exit sooner than later.
A lack of draft capital seems to disqualify general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah from splashing into the Top 10 on draft night via trade, although stranger things have happened. If he wants a quarterback — and doesn’t want to spend multiple 1st-Rounders — choosing Hooker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA), or Clayton Tune (Houston) might be the best resort.
Interestingly, the Vikings already have a subtle connection to Hooker — left tackle Christian Darrisaw.
Before Hooker transferred to the Tennessee Volunteers, he played for Virginia Tech, Darrisaw’s alma matter. The two have history. Hooker didn’t play much in 2018 but took off in 2019 and 2020, which were Darrisaw’s final two seasons as a Hokie. The year Darrisaw joined the Vikings, in 2021, Hooker became a Volunteer and rose to stardom, diming 58 touchdown passes to just 5 interceptions in 24 games at the school.
Hooker tore his ACL last November, though, and will be 26 by the time the 2023 regular season caps, dropping the enthusiasm on his draft candidacy to possibly Rounds 2 through 7. If he was 21 and uninjured — so, an alternate universe — Hooker would probably create a “Big Five” in this draft class.
About a week ago, Darrisaw posted this photo of Hooker to his Instagram story with a caption of QB1:
It is unclear if Darrisaw is endorsing Hooker as the Vikings eventual QB1 or merely embracing the Volunteer as some team’s quarterback of the future. He’s evidently high on Hooker, who could become a Viking late in April. Adofo-Mensah has five draft picks — with one in the 3rd Round where Hooker could be reasonably unearthed.
Finally, in addition to the Darrisaw-Hooker connection, Hooker has been mock-drafted to Minnesota all over the place in the last two weeks. The draft-hype machine is doing its thing. NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah started the Hooker-Vikings party on March 21st via mock draft. A day later, it was CBS Sports. And The Athletic followed suit last Friday.
If the Vikings draft Hooker and he somehow guides the team to the postseason in 2024, he’d be 27 years old during his first playoff hurrah.
The Vikings haven’t drafted a player from the University of Tennessee in 10 years — Cordarrelle Patterson.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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