Former NFL GM Reveals Shocking Opinion One Of The Quarterbacks In This Year’s Draft

Seattle Seahawks NFL Draft

Getty Image / Andy Lyons


With just a month until the NFL Draft, we are probably about to hear quite a few wild projections.

That could be especially true with the wide range of opinions on the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft.

In fact, opinions vary so wildly that there is one former general manager that wants to throw a new name into the mix with the usual prospects considered to be the top 4 QBs in this year’s class.

ESPN’s Mike Tannenbaum was part of a mock draft today where he predicted Hendon Hooker would be selected 5th overall by the Seattle Seahawks and he even believes Hooker would have gone 1st overall if he hadn’t torn his ACL.

I love this player. He started 37 games, including 11 this year. He was unbelievably productive, especially against Alabama. He played flawlessly and has prototypical size, and if he didn’t tear his ACL, we might be talking about the first player taken in the draft.

He throws the ball with a classic motion and led the nation in yards per attempt, this is not a check-down offense, and he’s still getting the ball downfield. His character matches his stats and would check every box.

There have recently been rumors about the possibility of the Colts trading away the 4th pick to move back and take Hooker later. That’s a move that makes sense if they aren’t 100% sold on whichever of the top 4 options they believe will fall to them at their pick.

This would not make nearly as much sense.

Even if Hooker hadn’t been injured, there would be reasons not to take him with a top 5 pick.

The first is his age. He’s 25, which means he’s already older than players like Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, and Trey Lance who were drafted 2 years ago.

He also didn’t break out until late in his career. In 2021, he threw for 2945 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior. Before that his career highs were 1555 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Usually when evaluating quarterbacks you want to see better numbers than that before they are the oldest player on the field.

There’s also the fact that the Seahawks don’t need to force a pick at quarterback right now. They have Geno Smith signed for the next 2 seasons and if he doesn’t perform this year, they could be in position to trade up and take a better prospect next year.

Hendon Hooker could end up being a good NFL quarterback, but the price for a team to find that shouldn’t be anywhere near a top 5 pick.