The rising draft stock of Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker is a good thing for the Kansas City Chiefs—at least if it gets high enough.
Given that we’re only a few weeks before the 2023 NFL Draft, it’s time for the specific draft stocks of multiple players to begin to take a serious leap or tumble. It happens every year to players, for better or worse, and it’s part of the overall drama that makes the draft such a strong draw for fans of every team.
This year, Hendon Hooker is one player on the rise at the right time. The Tennessee quarterback was largely left out of the conversation for the draft’s top signal callers for the first few months of the offseason, but in recent days and weeks, his skill set has been praised more and more by scouts who are seeing him in a newer light—or at least that’s what they are saying.
Coming into the draft, the quarterback class was largely about four players: C.J. Stroud of Ohio State, Bryce Young of Alabama, Will Levis of Kentucky, and Anthony Richardson of Florida. However, Hooker’s stock is taking him up draft boards and some recent rumors even have Hooker passing some of the aforementioned favorites.
Check out what NFL reporter James Palmer had to say recently about the latest quarterback rankings.
Update: "Plenty" of NFL teams have Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker ranked as the 3rd QB prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft.@JamesPalmerTV: "There is a gap between the top two in Bryce Young and CJ Stroud" then Hooker slides between them and Anthony Richardson/Will Levis. pic.twitter.com/ebS82WILAL
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 7, 2023
The Detroit Lions are spending time with Hooker this week, and visits have already happened with the Las Vegas Raiders, New Orleans Saints, Washington Commanders, Green Bay Packers, Tennessee Titans, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
What will be interesting to see is whether or not one of those teams will fall in love with Hooker. While no one is going to splurge near the top of the first round on a selection of Hooker, a team might feel pressured to sneak into the bottom of the first to draft him—not only to grab that fifth-year option on a quarterback but to also keep the bad teams circling back to pick atop the second round from grabbing him there.
This is where the Kansas City Chiefs come in, a team sitting at No. 31 after winning Super Bowl LVII. While the Chiefs might want to trade up themselves for a prized prospect, it’s also possible they could benefit from a team trading up in the draft in one of two ways. First, the Chiefs might find a team trading up to take Hooker in front of them, which knocks down all non-QB prospects a bit further. Second, the Chiefs themselves could pick up extra picks in day two if a team wanted to leap up to No. 31.
Of course, the legions of fans who will have waited all night on Thursday for the Chiefs to pick might be disappointed, but the Chiefs will do what is best for the team’s long-term goals and Hooker presents the sort of trade-up value that will make things intriguing. Time will tell how things will play out as the NFL Draft gets underway on Thursday, April 27.