Chris Simms: Hendon Hooker Has 'More Talent' than Jared Goff

NBC Sports' Chris Simms believes that Detroit Lions rookie quarterback Hendon Hooker has "more talent" than Jared Goff.

There was little-to-no doubt that the Detroit Lions would draft a quarterback in this past April's NFL Draft.

All offseason long, Detroit general manager Brad Holmes had indicated that upgrading the backup quarterback position was a priority of his. Additionally, he had hinted at the fact that the Lions would potentially go the route of the draft to address the position.

The Lions decided not to use a first-or-second-rounder on a signal-caller. Instead, the organization waited until the third round (pick No. 68) to select Tennessee Volunteers dual-threat passer Hendon Hooker.

Although Hooker is currently recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered in mid-November, the hope is that the Tennessee product, with his NFL-caliber arm and ability to extend plays with his legs, can eventually develop into a franchise passer.

There are some pundits that believe Hooker is a perfect fit to one day replace Jared Goff under center in Detroit.

Meanwhile, NBC Sports' Chris Simms believes that the ex-Volunteers quarterback already possesses "more talent" than the Lions incumbent starting signal-caller.

"Hendon Hooker, yeah, he makes sense. He's a no-nonsense football (player), tough, stands in the pocket, makes throws, does all that. And, like I said, he's got more talent than Jared Goff," Simms said during a post-draft episode of "Pro Football Talk" on NBC's streaming service, Peacock. "He's a better thrower of the football, he's a better athlete. Goff is good. Don't get me wrong. But still, if you go back in the year and watch the year, they have to manage Jared Goff."

Goff was certainly no slouch during the 2022 season. He threw for 4,438 yards and 29 touchdowns, as opposed to just seven interceptions. He also finished with the second-best QBR total of his career (61.1), and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl.

Despite the success he garnered, Simms was adamant that some of it was due to Detroit's bottom-tier defense. In Simms' opinion, it afforded Goff more opportunities to throw the football and pad his stats.

"It can't always just be let him go, or he got the benefit of – which people lose (sight of) sometimes when I have these conversations, where they go, 'well, he had all these stats and all that' – well, yeah, when your defense just lets teams go up and down the field on them, you, as a quarterback, that sometimes can be very easy," Simms expressed. "Because it's just like, hey, wait, we just got to go, go, go, go, go, go. And, I've given the green light to just pull the trigger and throw, throw, throw, because we can't stop anybody. So, he did have that benefit. I'm not a believer in Jared Goff in the long-term, and I think with that pick there (Hooker), the Lions are kind of saying the same thing."