The rare team to meet with all five of this year’s top quarterback prospects, the Raiders also must strongly consider using early-round picks to bolster their long-downtrodden defense. But if the Silver and Black use the No. 7 overall choice on a defender, it leaves the door open to its second-rounder being a tool to address the quarterback position.
Hendon Hooker visited the Raiders earlier this month, and Tony Pauline of ProFootballNetwork.com notes the team is impressed with the Tennessee prospect. This intrigue includes Hooker, per Pauline, sitting third on the Raiders’ QB board — behind only Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud. With the team viewing both players as likely to be off the board by No. 7, exploration of a Hooker investment enters the equation.
Coming off a November ACL tear, Hooker is not expected to be a consideration for the Raiders at No. 7. The team is indeed aiming to bolster its defense — potentially on all three levels — but Pauline adds it would be major surprise if Hooker slid past the Raiders at No. 38. Hooker has developed some momentum during the pre-draft interview period, and the notion of a team using late-first-round pick on the two-year Volunteers starter does not appear farfetched.
The Raiders trading back into the first round for Hooker would be a risk, considering the QB’s age (25) and injury past. Hooker would not be expected to play in 2023, given the Raiders’ Jimmy Garoppolo investment, and the team only has Brian Hoyer as an option behind Garoppolo. Hooker being a nonfactor behind Garoppolo would make Hoyer, who will turn 38 this season, the only true option if Garoppolo suffers another injury. The Raiders would also enter the QB-development business with a passer who would be 26 at the earliest point he would likely start for the team. Garoppolo signed a three-year contract that includes $33.75M fully guaranteed, giving the Raiders the option of using the 31-year-old passer for multiple seasons.
Hooker has met with the Texans, Commanders, Saints, Lions and Buccaneers. The Vikings have also been connected to Hooker, though they are not believed to have used a “30” visit on him. The Saints seem a stretch for Hooker, given Derek Carr‘s guarantees, but the Raiders could still be competing with a few other teams — depending on where this draft’s higher-rated QBs go — as the first round progresses. The Commanders hold picks 16 and 47 while the Bucs sit at 19 and 50. Disregarding the Lions’ No. 6 pick, they also hold Nos. 18, 48 and 55. The Texans, who continue to be mentioned as a candidate to pass on Stroud at No. 2 overall, carry Nos. 12 and 33. Minnesota sits at No. 23 and does not have a second-round pick.
Both Daniel Jeremiah and ESPN’s Scouts Inc. rank Hooker just outside the top 40. Prior to his ACL tear, the 6-foot-3 prospect piloted Tennessee to five wins over ranked competition — including a shootout conquest over Alabama. Hooker finished his two-year Vols run with 58 touchdown passes and five interceptions. The six-year collegian was far less prolific at Virginia Tech. As Ely Allen points out, Hooker playing in what is viewed as a QB-friendly offense at Tennessee could affect his NFL development.
While Hooker joins Anthony Richardson and Will Levis in carrying risk, teams without a top-10 pick figure to have done extensive homework on Hooker going into the draft. The Raiders appear to be one of those teams.
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