University of Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker has been working hard to come back from an ACL tear that he sustained in mid-November of last year. With the injury occurring so late in the year, it easily could’ve affected his availability to play in 2023, but according to Pete Thamel of ESPN, that’s not expected to be the case. 
Thamel reports that every NFL team received a letter from Dr. Neal ElAttrache, Hooker’s orthopedic surgeon, claiming that Hooker is “on a timeline to be fully-cleared by the first weekend of the NFL season.” The injury largely wasn’t expected to affect his draft status too much. Hooker was already drawing first-round interest and has been predicted to be selected by the end of Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft, even without the letter.
One of the reasons for this is that Hooker is projected to be a bit of a project on offense in the NFL. He has plenty of tools that will greatly assist him at the next level as an NFL quarterback, but some of the reasons for his success in Knoxville are things that won’t continue at the pro level.
For instance, Hooker played on an extremely quarterback-friendly offense as a Volunteer under Josh Heupel. The gameplan was conducive to offensive output at the college level but hasn’t been known to produce NFL-ready passers. Heupel’s offense is assumed to run largely off of predetermined targets. This is likely evidenced by the rate and speed at which Hooker was known to check the ball down. If Hooker’s first (and only) read wasn’t there, he would check the ball down.
One of the most difficult parts of playing quarterback in the NFL is reading pro defenses, not just before the snap but during the play, as well. Since Heupel’s offense didn’t promote the development of this tool for Hooker, many teams doing their research on the 25-year-old expect that there will be a learning curve for him at the next level.
Because of this expectation that Hooker will sit and learn, the knee injury was not a huge strike against him. Regardless, with the letter from Dr. ElAttrache, if any teams were worried about how soon he would be available, they can put that concern to rest.
Hooker is a talented player, with a lot of potential. His age shouldn’t be factor when making a decision on drafting him. He has a high upside regardless of the ‘simplicity’ of the system he played in. He did exactly what his coach asked out of him in college and executed it beautifully. I believe if he is coached to do more he will embrace the opportunity and succeed in the NFL. Good luck Hook