Though hearing this isn’t all that startling, Hendon Hooker won’t be taken for granted as Jared Goff’s backup.
After three days of training camp drills, the Detroit Lions have switched between Hendon Hooker and Nate Sudfeld, with one player working with the second team and the other with the third. According to all reports, Hooker has improved from his OTA performances, which is to be anticipated considering that those were his first meaningful work in an NFL environment. Additionally, the offensive he ran in college is very different from what he runs now.
Being a third-round selection last year and possessing immense raw potential, Hooker is the undisputed leader in the locker room to serve as Jared Goff’s primary backup. Despite the fact that Sudfeld has only completed 37 regular season NFL passes since entering the league in 2016 (and none since 2020), it is evident that the Lions appreciate what he brings to the table. When questioned by Jon Gruden why they didn’t allow Peyton Manning to give some practice snaps to his backups, former Colts assistant Tom Moore readily comes to mind when Sudfeld had to start in place of Jared Goff (check it out).
Unfortunately, as anticipated, Hooker will not start at quarterback number two.
Is Nate Sudfeld truly the better quarterback for the Lions than Hendon Hooker?
Lions head coach Dan Campbell verified what reporters at practice have previously seen regarding the backup quarterback competition prior to Friday’s practice, via Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports.
Indeed, this will be Sudfeld’s ninth NFL season. However, as previously noted, he only had 37 more pass attempts in the regular season than Hooker, a second-year player who missed the season while recovering from an ACL tear. Campbell’s claim that Sudfeld has “played before” is therefore a little bit of a stretch, but in that context, preseason activity cannot be completely ignored. To be sure, Campbell seemed to rephrase his comments when he said that Sudfeld had “a little bit more experience.”
Camp and preseason games may see an equal distribution of second-team reps. However, that will be a completely separate discussion that will be centered on Hooker alone if he is unable to defeat Sudfeld for the Lions’ No. 2 quarterback position. The only scenarios in which Sudfeld could potentially win the position are those in which Hooker is catastrophically wounded or unrecoverable; in the latter case, a quarterback replacement would probably replace Sudfeld.
But early in camp, it’s almost a given that there will be an open fight for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart because Campbell and the coaching staff want to see Hooker continue to grow and earn it.
