We're deep in the heart of NFL mock draft season.
Will the Vikings hook a quarterback in the first round of the NFL draft?
The Tennessee quarterback, projected to the Vikings in a recent mock draft, has an interesting profile. And the Vikings might have a need for a young QB depending on how Kirk Cousins' contract situation plays out.
March 22, 2023 at 4:48PM
The Scouting Combine has already happened. The new league year started, with free agency bringing some clarity (and some change) to what teams might be targeting in the draft. But there is still more than a month before actual selections are made.
Given all this, it isn't surprising that updated versions of mock drafts are showing a reshuffling of the deck, particularly as analysts try to be bold and outdo each other.
Surveying the landscape for the Vikings reveals a pretty clear need at wide receiver, which we talked about earlier this week on the Access Vikings podcast.
After cutting Adam Thielen, the Vikings certainly could be looking for a complement to Justin Jefferson — reflected in ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. and CBS Sports' Pete Prisco having a receiver going to the Vikings at No. 23 in their most recent mock drafts.
But a more interesting development: Mock drafts in each of the last two days have had the Vikings taking Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker No. 23 overall. On Tuesday it was NFL media's Daniel Jeremiah, and Wednesday it was CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso.
Hooker is a fascinating and perhaps polarizing prospect, as I talked about on Wednesday's Daily Delivery podcast.
Before we get to Hooker as a player, let's understand why this makes more sense than it did, say, three weeks ago.
The Vikings needed cap space before the new league year started, but instead of working out an extension with incumbent five-year starter Kirk Cousins, they converted part of his salary into a signing bonus. That gives them flexibility to move on from Cousins after this season if they choose, albeit with a large ($28.5 million) dead cap charge in 2024.
Given the Vikings' stated preference not to have a young QB start as a rookie, logic would dictate they could draft their QB of the future next month, have him sit and learn for a year, then take over in 2024.
Top quarterback prospects like C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson will be long gone before the Vikings pick at No. 23. But Hooker, projected in a lot of places as an early second-round pick, will likely be there. The Vikings might even be able to trade down, accumulate some much-needed draft capital, and still get him.
Hooker is coming off two terrific years at Tennessee, including legitimate Heisman contention last year. But that bid ended when he tore his ACL, meaning he faces a long rehab process before he can start progressing on the field for any NFL team.
He also just turned 25 — by comparison, he's almost 18 months older than Kellen Mond, the QB the Vikings drafted two years ago! — which can be viewed in a positive or negative light depending on your perspective.
But the numbers tell an impressive story. He was the No. 2 graded QB at the Combine, per the NFL's site. And in his last two seasons combined he threw for 58 touchdowns with just five interceptions while amassing more than 1,000 total rushing yards.
I'm hardly a Tennessee football expert, so I turned to colleague and Rocky Top diehard Chip Scoggins for more insights on Hooker.
The pluses, per Chip: Strong and accurate arm. Tremendous leadership. Good athlete who can make plays with his feet.
The questions, per Chip: His age (though Chip doesn't think being 25 should be a concern or a negative), the ACL injury and the big one — "how his skill set will translate to a pro-style NFL offense." Tennessee runs a very up-tempo offense, and it's nothing like anything run in the NFL.
The big takeaway, per Chip: "As far as intangibles (leadership, character, work ethic, etc.) Hooker is A-plus. I can't overstate what he meant to our program with his impact on and off the field. He made Vols football fun again, made us relevant again."
Is that worthy of the No. 23 overall pick, or at least with the Vikings' first selection in the draft if they trade down? That's up for debate.
But Hooker does seem to check a lot of the boxes that you would want in a modern QB, and it's very interesting that he showed up in multiple mock drafts to the Vikings this week.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
