The Titans are adding some quarterback depth behind Cam Ward. Former Lions third-round pick Hendon Hooker is headed to Tennessee, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Hooker, 28, was selected with the No. 68 pick in the 2023 draft after tearing his ACL in his final season at Tennessee. He spent most of his rookie season rehabbing in the hopes of taking over as Jared Goff‘s backup in 2024.
Hooker beat out Nate Sudfeld for Detroit’s QB2 job during training camp. He closed out three blowout wins – his only regular-season action to date – but the Lions reunited with Teddy Bridgewater in December as a more proven insurance policy in advance of the postseason. The move was indicative of the team’s lack of confidence on Hooker if Goff were to miss any time.
The Lions put Hooker on notice by signing Kyle Allen to compete for the backup gig last spring. During training camp, head coach Dan Campbell made it clear that Hooker had not developed in Detroit as the team hoped. That foreshadowed his release during roster cut-downs after a rough preseason that featured five turnovers, 4.7 yards per attempt, and a 55% completion rate.
Hooker spent time with the Panthers and Jets last season as they contended with injuries in their quarterback rooms, though he did not appear in a game. Now, he returns to the state in which he played college ball, though his new team is located in Nashville, not Knoxville.
The Titans already have Mitchell Trubisky and Will Levis as depth behind Ward. Trubisky is clearly the backup after signing a two-year deal with $6.8MM guaranteed. That will leave Levis as Hooker’s competition for a back-end roster or practice squad spot.
Levis is in the final year of his rookie contract. He struggled mightily in his first two seasons and missed last season due to a summer injury. Journeyman Brandon Allen was tapped for the 49 snaps Ward missed as a rookie. The addition of Hooker suggests that the Titans are open to moving on from Levis, a second-round pick made by since-fired GM Ran Carthon. Trade rumors followed Levis around the 2025 draft; it is quite possible they reemerge this month, though the former No. 33 overall pick has certainly lost value since his rookie season.
Saleh loves hookers. He rocks their world.
Dan Campbell,” He hasn’t developed the way we hoped ” Don’t third string QB’s and offense usually run the opposing teams formations and plays in practice to help the first stringers get used to defending against those plays? So how exactly is he supposed to learn the Lions offense from top to bottom if he’s always running another teams offense? Then throwing him in to play in garbage time with other 2nd and 3rd string players really helps. My point is if he’s not playing with the cream of the crop what kind of an evaluation are you making? Kind of like, if you put Anthony Richardson in a game with Higgins, Chase, and Jefferson he’s going to look like the GOAT because they’re going to catch everything thrown their way, but that’s not a fair evaluation. Sorry this is so disjointed. From watching him in college he looks like he could be something good if given half a chance.
Plenty of QBs throughout history have performed well with second/third stringers, leading to a roster spot and, ultimately, a chance. Not saying Hooker is bad, but if he had the talent worthy of competing for a starting spot or something, he would elevate worse talent and make them look viable in the preseason. Sure, it sucks he never had the chance to pop into a regular season game with something on the line, but obviously Detroit can only compare him to other backups and they think Kyle Allen and Teddy Bridgewater are better options. I would say that’s an indictment on how he performed in Detroit.
Hopefully he gets a good chance in Tennessee.
I don’t think he’ll push Ward, but nothing wrong with being a solidified 2 if he can beat out Levis and Trubisky. He should have no problem with the latter!
Cam Ward watch out!!!
Always loved his cousin Fair Hooker who was a WR in the 70’s made famous by Dandy Don Meridiths’s famous quote…”Has there really ever been a Fair Hooker”….turn out the lights the party’s over!!!!!
I thought the Bears might bring him in as a Camp option at least but then I remembered that it was Getsy who liked him so guess not. Not really sure why the Bears walked away from Austin Reed who I thought played pretty well for them and just went off in the UFL. Anyway it’s never a bad idea to have a QB on the practice squad that knows your offense and the Bears got lucky Caleb lasted through the whole season but I wouldn’t count on that being true every year. Hopefully they have their eye on somebody to bring in at least. Need somebody to take those pre season reps.
Do you not like Bagent or just want a third option to be safe?
Love Bagent it’s Keenum that makes me queasy. It can’t hurt to have a guy around who knows your offense that can be a break glass if necessary kind of guy who at least knows the plays. Reed wasn’t drafted by Johnson so I guess he didn’t like him. I think they at the very least need a guy around to take some snaps at the end of pre season games to keep the other guys healthy.
Gotcha. I also would hope Keenum wouldn’t be necessary at any point, although I suppose if it gets to a third stringer the Bears are probably out of luck. I’ve always thought the most logical third string option would be an athletic guy who can run for a first down on any given play rather than a pocket passer who isn’t good enough to even be second string.
The guy’s older than Jalen Hurts and attempted all of nine NFL passes. Detroit didn’t even trust him to be second string. The guy barely had a chance. Entered the league older, injured, and coming from a college offense that doesn’t prepare quarterbacks or receivers for the pro game at all. Throwing go balls to your designated first read while nobody runs a full route tree just doesn’t translate. Same was true with the old Baylor offense.
Tennessee deserves its reputation as a QB/WR killer. I don’t understand why it isn’t more known at this point. Iamaleava was smart to leave; unfortunately, he handled it poorly and went to a school that didn’t help him develop much.
Yeah, a wise exit made not very wisely.
He let money speak a bit too much and way too late.
I’d be okay with Green Bay adding Will Levis for a seventh round pick, it worked out the last time they got a quarterback Tennessee gave up on.