Hendon Hooker accepts invite to Senior Bowl

Jan 23, 2023 - 2:53 PM

Hendon Hooker’s NFL Draft process won’t go as he initially planned, but he will at least get to take part in Senior Bowl week in Mobile. Tennessee’s outgoing senior quarterback officially accepted his invite to the NFL’s premier all-star event of the draft circuit, where he’ll be able to meet and interview with teams.

The Senior Bowl announced the news on Monday morning.

Hooker’s Heisman campaign came to an abrupt close with just one game left in the regular season. He went down with a knee injury late in the South Carolina loss, and unfortunately for Hooker, everyone knew what the injury was after seeing it happen live. Now with a torn ACL, he will be forced to miss all of the physical parts of the NFL Draft process.

Already 25 years old and now faced with the possibility of missing most of his rookie season, Hooker’s draft stock clearly took a hit. He will be able to go through the interview process though, which is obviously a big part of the equation for quarterbacks.

Hooker will join teammates Byron Young and Darnell Wright in Mobile.

Hooker finishes his Tennessee career with 6,080 yards passing, throwing 58 touchdowns against just five interceptions. He added 1,046 yards on the ground, running for ten touchdowns during his time in Knoxville.

Once viewed as a potential day two pick, Hooker’s landing spot now will be interesting to see — and impossible to project.