Coming off a torn ACL that shortened his final season at Tennessee, Hendon Hooker's rookie season went according to plan as a "redshirt year." Once he was on the 53-man roster, he was designated as the emergency No. 3 quarterback at the end of the season and into the playoffs.
But with Teddy Bridgewater planning to retire, the Lions will have a void to fill behind Jared Goff looking toward next season. Bridgewater only played three snaps in what will be his lone season in Detroit, but he clearly took on a veteran leadership role with young players like Hooker and Jameson Williams.
As other starting quarterbacks went down around the league, Bridgewater's value as a backup with starting experience became very clear.
Hooker of course will not bring any NFL starting experience to a role as the No. 2 quarterback behind Goff, should he earn the role. But he will have a fully healthy offseason to put work in, without rehabbing an injury.
Hendon Hooker to fully immerse himself in becoming the Lions' No. 2 quarterback
Hooker told Kyle Meinke of MLive what a big part of his plan for the offseason is.
Working with Bridgewater would be one thing, but he will go down to Miami and live with Bridgewater.
"I’ve got my own place, but I will go down there and stay with Teddy this time, really hang out with Teddy and his family,” Hooker told MLive this week. “He’s really kind of brought me into his circle, and it’s a blessing. I’ll be down there a lot. I’m eager to go down there and hang out with him, and Maurice Alexander, ‘Hard Time,’ he’ll be down there too.”
Hooker also said he intends to go out to California to work with Goff, and he'll generally reach out to all the skill position guys to try to put together some workout sessions before training camp.
Not that he needed to say it directly based on everything else, but Hooker told Justin Rogers of the Detroit News how excited he is to get to work this offseason.
"I don't think I've been more excited to go into an offseason more before in my life," Hooker said. "Really, I'm just excited to go work on my craft and polish these little details that I really want to embark on this offseason."
Hooker will leave no offseason stone unturned in his quest to solidify his place as the No. 2 quarterback for the Lions next season. Seems like he's fitting right in with the culture in Detroit.