Lions' Brad Holmes Explained What Stood Out about QB Hendon Hooker

The Lions have a solid quarterback that can develop in their system.

The last time the Detroit Lions drafted a quarterback was back in 2017. 

A lot has happened on the football field since Brad Kaaya was selected six years ago. After Matthew Stafford demanded to be traded, Jared Goff has stepped in to become the leader of the team. 

Despite the organization's fondness for Goff, the personnel department made a commitment to bring in backups that would boost the competition level and ensure at least the coaching staff being more comfortable than they were at the start of last season. 

After a significant amount of speculation regarding which type of quarterback general manager Brad Holmes would select, it eventually came down to a player he had a connection with. 

Hendon Hooker's father and Holmes both played at North Carolina A&T. Hooker's younger brother also plays at A&T. 

Speaking with the media after being drafted, Hooker expressed that his father and Detroit's third-year general manager go way back. 

ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick expressed that  Detroit's coaching staff is uniquely suited to work with their newest signal-caller. 

"I never got the sense that he was under pressure when he was playing the game, what stuff was going on around him in the pocket. I thought this guy kept his eyes on the field. I thought this guy kept his eyes on the field. He was cool, calm and collected. I saw him hit the short stuff, the intermediate rounds, the timing routes, he can throw the deep ball beautifully," said Riddick. "This is the best thing I loved about this. He's gone to Detroit where the quarterback coach is Mark Brunell. Guess who dealt with an ACL injury in college and had to come back from it? He came back from it in six months. Mark Brunell. They do things very smartly out there in Detroit as far as how they're targeting players and bringing the right players in here." 

After an event-filled evening that saw the Lions make four trades, Detroit has a quarterback who has the potential to develop in a supportive environment. 

"I first saw him in when they (Tennessee) played Florida and I believe that was Knoxville, but it was a way about -- they run a very fast tempo offense," said Holmes. "You guys have heard all about spread offenses, they go high tempo, all that stuff. The way he was running it and those things that I saw in that live game that you can't see on tape. It was his urgency and his tempo throughout the game. He was actually, he was playing very, very urgent. He was playing violent in the run game. He was playing violent in the passing game. And I just kind of liked the nature, the nature of the way he was playing."

Holmes, the personnel department and the coaching staff have often expressed that beyond the talent a player brings to the locker room, intangibles and character play a role in what draws added attention to a player who could be brought in to play for the Lions. 

"There was little things that kind of stood out to me, in terms of, he'd score a touchdown and instead of him being on the bench with the headset on or talking to the coach up the box, he's standing on the sideline waiting to congratulate his extra-point team," Holmes explained. "So, it's the little things like that that show you kind of what kind of person he was. Regardless of background and all of that, he's just a good football player. And if he wasn't, then we wouldn't have acquired him. But he's a good person. He's smart. He's very talented. He's had a unique journey that he's overcame. So, he just has to get healthy. I believe that we have the right situation for him where he can just sit back, develop and get healthy. But, we're excited about his upside."