College Football

Mike Smith details Hendon Hooker ahead of 2023 NFL draft

Mike Smith details Hendon Hooker ahead of 2023 NFL draft

The 2023 NFL draft will take place Thursday-Saturday in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri.

Round 1 of the 2023 NFL draft will take place Thursday (8 p.m. EDT), rounds 2-3 will be held Friday (7 p.m. EDT), while rounds 4-7 are slated for Saturday (noon EDT).

Ahead of the NFL draft, former Falcons’ head coach Mike Smith discussed Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker with OLBG.

“He came close to taking Tennessee to the national championship this year, but there’s a couple of buts which will move him down a lot of boards,” Smith said of Hooker. “He’s recovering from an ACL and that’s a concern. He’s also 25 and when you invest in a quarterback in the first three rounds, you’re developing that quarterback. You’re thinking the timeline is going to be at least two contracts for a successful quarterback.

“With Hendon Hooker, you’d be looking at signing him to a second contract at the age of 29 and that is the biggest concern, but I think he’s got a great makeup off the field and I loved him in Josh Heupel’s offense. Somebody is going to take him and he might be the fifth quarterback off the board.”

Hooker transferred to Tennessee from Virginia Tech ahead of the 2021 season.

Hooker appeared in 13 games for the Vols during the 2021 campaign. He completed 206-of-303 passing attempts, totaling 2,945 passing yards, 31 passing touchdowns and three interceptions, while recording 620 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns on 167 attempts in 2021.

In 11 games in 2022, Hooker completed 229-of-329 passing attempts for 3,135 yards, 27 touchdowns and two interceptions. He totaled 430 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

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