National Analyst Has Hendon Hooker Among Top QBs

NFL Network's Bucky Brooks released his position rankings, and Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker is among his top signal callers in the draft cycle.

With the NFL Combine rapidly approaching, evaluators are beginning to release their first round of position rankings and mock drafts. While we are still early in the evaluation cycle, the draft is looming two months away.

Quarterback Hendon Hooker is one of the most polarizing figures in the class. His ceiling is a long-term NFL starter who can ultimately become a franchise quarterback, but there are some drawbacks. Hooker is still rehabbing from an ACL tear and is 25 years old, two red flags for franchises.

Nonetheless, many evaluators aren't letting short-term issues cloud the big picture. Quarterback is the one position where you can afford to toss out age and an isolated injury because the nature of the position allows longer careers. NFL Network's Bucky Brooks released his top-five positional rankings, detailing the top players at each spot, and Hooker came in quite high.

Brooks touted Hooker as the No. 3 quarterback in the class. Alabama's Bryce Young and Ohio State's CJ Stroud have been the consensus top two quarterbacks in the class since last summer, but the third spot is relatively open. Florida's Anthony Richardson and Kentucky's Will Levis hold the inside track to be the third and fourth quarterbacks off the board, but Brooks isn't alone in his evaluation of Hooker.

One NFL coach told ESPN's Pete Thamel that he believes that Hooker could become a quality starter, lofty praise for someone who hasn't been able to participate in on-field workouts. That should underscore how special Hooker's 2022 season was; he was the odds-on Heisman favorite before the South Carolina game and improved throughout the year.

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