Hendon Hooker will not be handed the Lions' No. 2 quarterback job

Now through three days of training camp practice, the Detroit Lions have rotated Hendon Hooker and Nate Sudfeld through second-team reps with the other getting work with the third team. By all accounts Hooker has has looked better than he did during OTAs, as expected given OTAs were his first significant work in an NFL setting. He is also working in an entirely different offense than he ran in college.

Rooted in raw potential and being a third-round pick last year, Hooker is the proverbial leader in the clubhouse to be Jared Goff's primary backup. But it's clear the Lions value what Sudfeld brings to the table, even though he has thrown just 37 regular season NFL passes since coming into the league in 2016 (none since 2020). Is Sudfeld had to play in place of Jared Goff, it's easy to think of former Colts' assistant Tom Moore's comments when asked by Jon Gruden why they didn't let Peyton Manning cede some practice snaps to his backups (look it up).

But alas, and as expected, Hooker is not being handed the No. 2 quarterback spot.

Could Nate Sudfeld really beat out Hendon Hooker to be the Lions' No. 2 QB?

Speaking before Friday's practice, via Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports, Lions head coach Dan Campbell confirmed what reporters at practice have already observed regarding the backup quarterback competition.

"That's a competition, you know, it is. And we like both of those guys. There is a reason Nate's here. You know, Nate has played before. He's got a lot of experience. He's got more years and a little bit more experience, certainly, than Hooker does. But this is a competition. I mean, at the end of the day, both of those guys are going to roll between the twos and threes, and by the time we get into camp, you know, we need to know who our two is, and we're not going to have our two be somebody we don't trust in the moment." 

Yes Sudfeld is entering his ninth NFL season. But as mentioned, he has just 37 more regular season pass attempts than Hooker, a second-year man who didn't play as a rookie as he worked his way back from a torn ACL, does. So for Campbell to say Sudfeld has "played before" is a bit of a stretch, but preseason action can't be totally disregarded in that equation. Campbell did seem to caveat his remarks by saying Sudfeld has "a little bit more experience."

Second-team reps may been allocated evenly in camp and preseason games. But if Hooker can't beat out Sudfeld for the Lions' No. 2 quarterback job, that's a whole different conversation that will be focused on him alone. The only ways Sudfeld realistically wins the job is if Hooker is irretrievably awful or injured, and if Hooker were badly injured an addition to the quarterback room to usurp Sudfeld would likely come.

But Campbell and the coaching staff wants to see Hooker continue to progress and earn it, so a profession of an open competition for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart is practically automatic early in camp.