Hendon Hooker‘s age (25) likely served as one of the factors for his fall into Round 3. The ACL tear the Tennessee product sustained in November undoubtedly led to him tumbling out of the second round, his widely viewed floor. The Lions now have a developmental quarterback who, despite being drafted seven years after Jared Goff, is barely three years younger than the Detroit starter. Dan Campbell did not view Hooker’s age as a major issue.
“We did go into this offseason saying that we wanted to bring in some competition at quarterback,” Campbell said during an appearance on Green Light with Chris Long podcast (h/t Pro Football Talk). “We didn’t know exactly where that might be, who that would be at the time, but we did like Hooker. We knew he was coming off the injury, but there was something about him that was appealing. He’s very mature; he looks the part; he’s got a big arm. H’s just got to learn to play in the NFL. He’s a pro, now, and I like the fact that he was older. We all kind liked the fact that he was older. I think you want your quarterback to be more mature.”
The Lions have begun discussions on a Goff extension. For now, the third-year Detroit starter is tied to his Rams-constructed deal that runs through 2024. Although Hooker should not be viewed as an heir apparent just yet, his rookie deal runs through 2026. Here is the latest from the NFC North:
- The Bears are set to hold a center competition between Cody Whitehair and Lucas Patrick. GM Ryan Poles said he is comfortable with either the longtime guard — who began his NFL career as a center — or the 2022 free agency pickup at center, Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com tweets. Whitehair, 31 in July, has started 107 games for the Bears, who drafted him in the 2016 second round. He spent the first three seasons of his career at center and has been on the radar to move since the Nate Davis free agent signing. A two-year Packers starter, Patrick started only five Bears games during an injury-plagued 2022 season.
- Chicago will also move Teven Jenkins from right guard to left guard, Cronin adds (on Twitter), to accommodate Davis. The free agent pickup worked as the Titans’ starting right guard from 2019-22. Jenkins will soon move to a fourth O-line position. The Bears tried him at both tackle spots and dangled him in trade talks last year, but they saw the 2021 second-rounder show promise at guard last season. The other new Bears full-timer up front last season, Braxton Jones, is not moving from left tackle. Despite the addition of first-rounder Darnell Wright, Bears O-line coach Chris Morgan said (via Cronin) the team will keeping Jones at left tackle going into training camp. Wright logged more starts at right tackle (27) than left tackle (13) at Tennessee.
- Set to hold their rookie minicamp later this week, the Lions will arrange for XFL return man Darrius Shepherd to try out. The XFL announced Shepherd, who also caught 48 passes for 519 yards with the St. Louis BattleHawks this season, will attend the Lions’ rookie camp. The 27-year-old wideout, a former UDFA out of North Dakota State, played for the Packers from 2019-20 but did not see NFL game action over the past two years.
- One of the signees from this year’s International Pathway Program, the Packers‘ Kenneth Odumegwu, has never played organized football, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic tweets. The program, which expanded to two divisions (NFC North, AFC West) for the first time this year, provides an extra practice squad spot for an international player.
I like Poles. He may eventually wind up turning the Bears around. But he’s got a blind spot for the center position. It’s a weak spot in that line. And I like Jenkins, but he had a hard time staying on the field last season. Well, who knows? Maybe it’ll work out.
They need more depth at guard. If Jenkins gets hurt they may have to shift Whitehair to guard and start Patrick if whitehair wins the starting center spot. Unless they feel more comfortable with the no name guards they have now
He may have a plan for that, but that roster as is, ain’t gonna cut it. Whitehair having to move back to guard would be a step back. His performance there started to slip last year.
Never mind that Patrick will likely be injured again as the guy is a chandelier. Bears should have drafted an interior OL, and I think they are going to regret not doing that.
I do agree that it seems like he’s more comfortable with center than fans are. I would have loved the Bears to take Luke Wypler from OSU in the 5th instead of Terell Smith. Patrick just doesn’t seem like the answer or even a reliable backup. Wypler is young, but knows Fields (even if he RSed during Justin’s last year), which would be a positive. Center and QB relationship is huge, so maybe Justin had some say in that. Who knows. I haven’t judged Poles much yet because he needs a leash with a rebuild of this magnitude. I do want to see some strong improvement this year with a hit on more draft picks and FAs than not. If he did well this offseason and then next year is about filling in the cracks then I’ll be happy enough.
I’m shocked that an NFC North update made no mention of the death of ex-Vikings QB Joe Kapp.
He was reportedly the highest paid QB in the league in 1970 when he signed a 5 yr $1.2MM deal with the Patriots…lol.
Age won’t matter. He’ll have a god career at a backup