Tennessee football's Hendon Hooker named first-round NFL Draft pick by ESPN's Mel Kiper
Hendon Hooker could be the first Tennessee football quarterback drafted in the first round since Peyton Manning.
ESPN's Mel Kiper projected Hooker as the No. 30 pick to the Seattle Seahawks in his latest mock draft Tuesday.
"There's some buzz about Hooker rising into the first round and this could be the perfect landing spot," Kiper wrote. "I have a second-round grade on him, but I can see why he might be appealing. He led the FBS in Total QBR (89.5) and yards per attempt (9.5) last season, and he threw just five picks over two seasons at Tennessee. His accuracy on deep throws is really good. The downside? He played in a quarterback-friendly offense, didn't have to go through progressions and is coming off a torn left ACL suffered in November. There's going to be a learning curve in the NFL. Plus, he's already 25 years old, so there are questions about his ceiling."
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Kiper also has Vols offensive tackle Darnell Wright mocked as the No. 9 pick to the Chicago Bears.
Hendon Hooker powered Tennessee football to an elite 2022 season
Hooker completed 69.6% of his passes for 3,153 yards and 27 touchdowns with two interceptions, leading UT to a 9-1 start with the program's best start since 1998 first win over Alabama since 2006.
The Greensboro, North Carolina, native transferred to Tennessee in January 2021 after starting his career at Virginia Tech. He committed to ex-Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt, then stuck through the transition into the Josh Heupel era. The pair proved a perfect marriage and have revived the struggling Tennessee program.
Hooker lost the starting quarterback job to Joe Milton before the 2021 season, but took over midway through the second game and held onto the spot for the past 22 games. He threw for 6,080 yards and 58 touchdowns with only five interceptions over that span. He also rushed for 1,050 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Tennessee football's quarterbacks in the NFL Draft
Tennessee has not had a quarterback drafted in the first round since Manning was the No. 1 pick by the Indianapolis Cols in 1998.
The Vols have had 14 quarterbacks drafted. George Cafego also was the No. 1 pick in the 1940 draft. Heath Shuler was the No. 3 pick in the 1994 draft by the Washington Redskins.
UT has had four quarterbacks drafted since Manning. Joshua Dobbs was the highest-drafted quarterback since Manning. He was taken in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football's Hendon Hooker named first-round NFL Draft pick by ESPN's Mel Kiper
