Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker is back throwing, just ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft

Hendon Hooker is back throwing, hoping to hear his name called Thursday night

2022 was a magical season for Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker. The quarterback delivered a huge win over Alabama for the Volunteers, and played himself into Heisman contention deep into the season. But a knee injury suffered near the end of the year cut his magical season short.

Yet his next football season could get off to a magical start on Thursday night.

Hooker’s work a season ago has put him on the cusp of the first round heading into night one of the 2023 NFL Draft. Recent mock drafts from notable insiders such as Will Brinson, Jason LaCanfora, and Tony Pauline have Hooker in the first round, and Pro Football Focus’s Cris Collinsworth just mocked him at 31 overall, to the Kansas City Chiefs.

However, there are some questions regarding Hooker, and his potential transition to the NFL. He is an older prospect, already 25 years of age and set to turn 26 in January. There are questions about the offense he ran at Tennessee, as Josh Heupel’s system created lots of downfield opportunities for him, but most of what he was asked to do came on half-field reads.

Then there is the knee injury. Hooker tore the ACL in his left knee late in the season.

But just before the first round, Hooker took a big step towards returning to the field. The quarterback shared videos on social media of him working out, taking some dropbacks and throwing ahead of the NFL Draft:

With the improvements in medical technology, players are recovering from ACL tears quicker and quicker each year. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray suffered an ACL tear of his own at the end of the 2022 season, but recently shared video of him working out — and squatting — just weeks after his surgery.

Players are returning to the field much quicker after these injuries than in years past, and Hooker shared at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine that he expects to be fully healthy for training camp.

This pre-draft development is another sign that will indeed be the case.

Will it be enough to push him into the first round? We will know in just over 24 hours.