There’s More Hendon Hooker to Vikings Buzz
Janik Eckardt
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The Minnesota Vikings entered the 2023 offseason with a clear plan to get younger. Therefore, older guys, including former Pro Bowlers, had to leave the organization. Most famously, longtime Vikings Adam Thielen and Eric Kendricks after almost a decade with the team.
On the flip side, the Vikings added 25-year-old cornerback Byron Murphy and 26-year-old players Marcus Davenport and Josh Oliver. Another position the Vikings could try to get younger in the near future is quarterback.
There’s More Hendon Hooker to Vikings Buzz
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins will turn 35 in August, when many quarterbacks start to experience a dropoff. QBs can perform much longer at a high level than players at other positions, but Tom Brady is still the outlier. At some point in the next few years, Cousins will start his decline. The scary thing is — no one knows when it will take place.
For that reason, the Vikings are looking for his successor. Cousins’ contract was not extended, and he will enter his contract year for the first time since joining the Vikings in 2018. The Vikings will most likely pick someone in the draft either in 2023 or in 2024.
CBSSport’s Chris Trapasso envisions Vikings’ GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah selecting a passer in April’s draft. In his latest mock draft, Trapasso sent the Vikings Hendon Hooker, the QB of the Tennessee Volunteers.
The Vikings have other needs, but instead of hoping to bottom out or attempt to a glut of extra picks to move up in next year’s draft to pick a quarterback, they pick Hooker and get him with the fifth-year option.
Chris Trapasso, CBSSports
The idea to select Hooker in the upcoming draft was a popular one a couple of days ago, but when Daniel Jeremiah from NFL.com started the talker about a possible Hooker selection in the first round in his mock draft, fans were not so happy anymore.
Hooker has some concerning red flags, first and foremost his age, as he is already 25. In addition to that, Hooker suffered a torn ACL in November of last year. Reports suggest he is on pace to be healthy for the season opener in September. However, he will likely miss some or most of the offseason workouts and possibly training camp and the preseason. It’s too early to tell at this point when he’ll be back at 100%. All of those matters are valid concerns.
Many also dislike the offensive system he played in. Tennessee ran a gimmicky offense built around one-read plays. His task on a lot of his plays was simple, just choose between two receivers on the same side of the field and get the open player the ball. Regardless, those reads still have to be made, and the passes need to be accurate. Hooker was excellent at both. The system sometimes makes life easier, but he still executed it perfectly. Despite the allegedly easy offense to play in, Hooker made a variety of throws. His best skill is arguably the high hit rate on deep go-routes.
Hooker had two fantastic seasons at Tennessee after transferring there from Virginia Tech in 2021. His stats of 58 passing touchdowns and only 5 interceptions are mind-blowing. He also completed 68.8% of his passes for 6,080 yards.
Hooker rarely turns the ball over, has shown decent accuracy and decision-making ability, and can successfully run one of the most effective offenses in the country. The quarterback also has wonderful mobility, as he rushed for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns in the two campaigns in Tennessee.
The concern of Vikings fans is that Hooker would be a reach in the draft’s first round. Missing out on the top guys in the draft, namely Bryce Young, Will Levis, C.J. Stroud, and Anthony Richardson, the Vikings would have to draft someone and are stuck with a player that should go later in the draft. However, Hooker has some traits teams look for. The required athleticism to be successful out of the structure, an underrated accuracy, and the rare ability to not turn the ball over are all intriguing skills.
Even if he is day-two talent, if the Vikings, especially head coach Kevin O’Connell, a former NFL quarterback, identified him as his guy, the Vikings shouldn’t hesitate and draft him, even if it costs the valuable first-round pick. O’Connell is in the building to make that decision and find his next franchise quarterback. Of course, if O’Connell isn’t sold, the Vikings shouldn’t draft him.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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