Was the selection at 68th overall in the third round of a 25-year-old quarterback in Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker the right move for the Lions?
Head coach Dan Campbell seems to think so…
Okay, obviously in all fairness, Campbell isn’t going to come out and knock his boss Brad Holmes’ draft selection, so let’s just assume that Campbell has zero issues with the Hooker pick. We’ll back this up by pointing out that Campbell recently went on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast saying that he “liked the fact that he was older” because “you want your quarterback to be more mature.”
You can hear Campbell’s comment’s below at the 45-second mark:
Campbell also discussed the team’s goal to bring some competition to the QB spot moving forward which is unlikely to happen this season. This is considering the season Jared Goff is coming off and the fact that Hooker will more than likely still be recovering from a torn ACL suffered back in November.
Whether you agree or disagree with the perceived value of Hooker in the beginning of the third round, at the very least he gives the Lions options for the next few seasons. Jared Goff still has two years remaining on his contract heading into 2023, however, Detroit is poised to save $26 million against the cap if they move on from Goff after this upcoming season.
But what if Goff has another lights-out season and a contract extension with Detroit comes calling?
The Lions would be dumb not to jump on the opportunity to lock up Goff over an unproven Hooker. The downside with that though is you’re potentially closing the door on any potential with a third-round quarterback who at that time will probably be approaching 30.
Decisions, decisions…
