Heading into OTAs, one of the most-watched Detroit Lions was going to be quarterback Hendon Hooker. He was also, more than any other Lions' player, going to benefit from getting practice reps during OTAs.
Hooker has been anointed as the Lions' No. 2 quarterback behind Jared Goff. It would be an upset and a disappointment if he doesn't clearly beat out Nate Sudfeld for the job, but head coach Dan Campbell made it clear Hooker will have to earn it.
"Yeah, really he just needs to take a step up," Campbell said. "We need to feel like, by the end of camp, this guy, he can run this offense. He can be somebody we know that, man, we can play the game a certain way with him. We know he’s gonna be able to process the information, he’s gonna get us in the right play and he’s gonna keep the ship afloat. That’s it. We don’t need him to come in and win a game, you just want to feel like, alright. So, obviously, he’s gonna need to take another step up.,,,"
By all accounts, Hooker had the expected ups and downs during OTAs and mandatory minicamp. Issues with accuracy and holding the ball too long were prevalent in reports from those on-site at Allen Park, along with flashes of the sheer talent that made Hooker a Heisman Trophy candidate before a torn ACL ended his final college season in 2022.
Hooker will presumably being paying an extended visit to Teddy Bridgewater during the break before training camp. That should help his development quite a bit.
Lions expect Hendon Hooker to be more comfortable during training camp
Before Thursday's minicamp practice, via John Maakaron of SI.com, Campbell talked about the progress he expects to see from Hooker when training camp comes.
"He’s gotten, I don’t know, but I would guess he’s gotten more game situations as a backup quarterback than probably most in a spring. We’ve put him in so many hard situations, which has been unbelievable to have those. But you’ve got everything we’ve done to this point. You ought to have every script with you, and you should be going through every one of them, every day. ‘I should be going through the play, the play-call, I’m in the huddle, here’s my – I’m going to visualize this. Alright here’s the coverage, I see it. Here’s the safety, I’m going to check to this.' So, by the time you get back, you should have a real good grasp at what we’re doing."
"The install is not really going to change, not offensively", Campbell said. "We’re pretty much going to go in with what we went in with this spring. So, I expect the player that is much more comfortable coming into camp than when he left spring,"
Hooker has talked a lot about being able to avoid overthinking and just playing fast and free. Having a better command of the offense is a huge piece of that, and nothing can replace sheer reps like he got during OTAs.
Hooker will remain one of the most-watched Lions during training camp and preseason games. It's expected he will come back to Allen Park in July ready to fully seize the job backing up Jared Goff.