Lions QB Hendon Hooker Ranked as Middle-Tier Backup

Where Sports Illustrated ranks Hendon Hooker compared to rest of league backups.

Detroit Lions quarterback Hendon Hooker (2) throws a screen pass against the Tennessee Titans | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions are hoping Hendon Hooker will continue to showcase development ahead of his third NFL season.

Hooker was up-and-down in training camp last season, but did have a pair of strong showings in the preaseason. After making his regular season debut in three mop-up appearances last year, Hooker was eventually demoted to the emergency third quarterback behind Jared Goff and Teddy Bridgewater in the postseason.

Now, the Lions have brought in veteran Kyle Allen to compete for the backup job with the Tenessee product. In the first opportunity to perform in front of the media, both players showed that they still have room to grow.

Though Allen brings pedigree as a former starter, Hooker is still viewed as the favorite to win the job. With an extra preseason game this year, he will have plenty of opportunities to prove to the coaching staff that he belongs as the team's backups.

Overall, Hooker remains one of the more intriguing backups across the league due to his unproven status and pedigree as a third-round pick. In a recent ranking of each of the NFL's 32 backup quarterbacks, Hooker ranked 16th.

"Hooker hasn’t played much since being viewed as a top quarterback prospect in the 2023 draft," Manzardo said. "The third-round pick missed his rookie season due to a torn ACL and had only nine passing attempts as Jared Goff’s backup last year. Hooker lacks experience, but he does have the benefit of leaning on a stacked offense in case he’s needed to fill in for Goff in 2025."