The Detroit Lions have tried everything under the sun to turn backup quarterback Hendon Hooker into a viable performer on that side of the ball, and it appears as though a rancid preseason showing served as the straw that broke head coach Dan Campbell's back.
Hooker's accuracy from the pocket, playmaking with his legs, and breakout year against SEC foes made him a prized prospect, especially at a time when Detroit didn't know what they had in Jared Goff. Just a few years later, Hooker found himself getting beaten out for the backup job by well-traveled veteran Kyle Allen.
In a move that seemed all but official when Campbell seemingly implied that Hooker needed a fresh start somewhere else in his football career, the Lions released Hooker and declared Allen the No. 2 quarterback behind Goff. After just two seasons, the Lions got tired of waiting for the 27-year-old to develop. Hooker leaves the Lions with 92 career passing yards and no touchdown passes.
Lions release former third-round pick QB Hendon Hooker
In the preseason, Hooker completed just 22 of his 40 passes for 187 yards, throwing no touchdowns and getting picked off three times while losing a fumble. His 36.1 passer rating is worse than if he threw an incomplete pass on every attempt (39.6).
While Hooker put up very gaudy numbers at both Virginia Tech and Tennessee, those numbers were inflated by two factors. Hooker was 24 years old in his final college season, which gave him an edge against the 19-year-olds he was playing against.
Tennessee's offense was extremely basic and asked the quarterback to do almost nothing at the line of scrimmage before running concepts that won't appear in the NFL. The switch to two very complex offensive playbooks in the pros clearly was too much for Hooker to swallow.
The Lions were not too confident in Hooker's abilities for quite some time, as they chose to pull Teddy Bridgewater out of the ranks of high school coaching rather than put Hooker in a position where he would need to play. Hooker looks like one of the few complete NFL Draft whiffs from Brad Holmes and the front office.
Hooker will likely get another shot elsewhere, as some team will try to convince themselves that they have the secret blend of ingredients that will get him sorted out. The Lions may wish him well, but they knew that going into 2025 with him as QB2 was not tenable.