Packers Meeting With QB Hendon Hooker, Jordan Love Backup Plan?
Where would the Packers feel comfortable drafting him?
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Yesterday some very interesting news came out that the Packers are going to be meeting with Tennessee QB prospect Hendon Hooker.
You may be asking, wait what about Jordan Love?? Does this mean the Packers aren’t sold on him?
Personally I still believe that the Packers are sold on Love as the future QB of the Green Bay Packers.
If we look back to 2008, the year that Aaron Rodgers became the starter for the Packers when Brett Favre moved on, the Packers drafted two QB’s in the 2008 NFL Draft: Brian Brohm in the 2nd, and Matt Flynn in the 7th.
The Packers added QB’s on the off chance that Aaron Rodgers wasn’t the guy.
Luckily for all of us Packers fans Aaron Rodgers became one of the most talented QBs in NFL history. Even though the front office at the time believed in Rodgers, they still had a back up plan just in case. I think that’s the same thing the Packers are doing now.
The general consensus around the NFL is that Hendon Hooker is a 2nd round prospect. According to NFL Draft Buzz consensus rankings he is the 6th ranked QB and 60th ranked player overall. Here are his stats over his 3 college seasons:
One thing is clear just by looking at his stats that he rarely puts the ball in harm's way. I’m all for a QB who doesn’t throw interceptions. Only 2 interceptions thrown in 2022 and 3 in 2021. He clearly is a very talented prospect. He’s also dangerous in the running game. From 2020-2022 he ran for 620yds, 620yds, and 430yds.
There are a few concerns regarding his game that have caused him to be outshined by other prospects. He’s already 25 years old.
That means he’s 1 year older than Jordan Love who is 24. Pretty wild considering Love has already been in the NFL for 3 years. The other concern is that Hooker tore his ACL in november. ACL injuries can be very tricky and you never know if a player is going to be the same when they get back.
Now there are a few people who are hyping up Hendon Hooker’s potential and believe that he has way more potential than people are giving him credit for.
One is former NFL QB Chris Simms. Simms has him ranked as his 3rd QB behind CJ Stroud and Bryce Young, ahead of Anthony Richardson and Will Levis. Here is what Simms had to say:
“Why is this guy not getting more buzz? What is there not to like?… All I know is I saw a really good looking, on the money, pocket-passing quarterback who makes great decisions and like C.J. Stroud is way more athletic than people are giving him credit for. And, where he might be even better than C.J. Stroud and definitely better than Bryce Young, his ability to see over the line and throw over the line… totally unaffected by the pass-rush…he’s consistently on the money throwing in to tight coverage…if you’re going off film, I don’t know how he’s not in the top quarterback conversation.”
Most “draft experts” have Hendon Hooker ranked behind both Levis and Richardson. Lots of them seem to be worried that his offense was too “gimmicky”, he’s old, and he’s coming off of an injury.
Honestly, the age thing doesn’t bother me that much. If he ends up being elite he could still play for 10 years. You’d prefer a younger player but I don’t think it’s the end of the world. Because of some of the concerns it makes sense why he’s ranked where he is.
Now the real question is if the Packers drafted Hendon Hooker where would they be comfortable taking him?
If the Packers drafted him at #15 I may lose my mind.
I doubt they do but you never know what Brian Gutekunst has up his sleeve. That would set the Packers fan base on fire on draft night, that’s for sure.
It seems likely he’ll be taken at least by the end of the second. The Packers 2nd round pick is #45. I still wouldn’t really like them using that pick on a QB. We need to get Jordan Love more help. I’d rather take a TE, WR, or Edge with that 2nd round pick. Now if we got to the 3rd round and Hooker was available I wouldn’t be that opposed to taking him.
It would be nice to have some insurance in the scenario that Jordan Love doesn’t live up to what we all hope he can be. If Love becomes great the Packers could potentially trade Hendon Hooker in the future for draft capital. The Packers also don’t have a solidified backup for Love, besides Danny Etling who is on the roster.
Now if the Jets actually decide to make a reasonable offer to the Packers by the draft we could have at least one of their 2nd round picks. If the Packers had 2 second round picks it would feel less terrible to use one of them on a QB. It still may pain me a little but I understand if you are the GM you have to plan for worst case scenarios and it’s better to be safe than sorry.
I already believed the Packers would draft a QB this year and now the Packers have shown that adding a QB through the draft is a very real possibility.
-Luke