Tennessee football shifting to mobile QBs by adding Hendon Hooker

Hendon Hooker joins the Tennessee football Volunteers as a Virginia Tech Hokies graduate transfer quarterback.

With the transfers of J.T. Shrout and Jarrett Guarantano, Tennessee football was looking for another quarterback to compete with Harrison Bailey, Brian Maurer and incoming freshman Kaidon Salter. The Vols appear to have found their guy.

Virginia Tech Hokies graduate transfer quarterback Hendon Hooker confirmed Thursday that he would join Rocky Top. Standing at 6’4″ 220 pounds, Hooker hails from North Carolina and has been with Justin Fuente’s program since 2017.

At VT, Hooker has completed 63.1 percent of his passes for 2,894 yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions, averaging nearly nine and a half yards per attempt. He announced his decision to commit to Tennessee football on Twitter.

By adding Hooker, the Vols appear to be shifting its focus at the quarterback position. Hooker, Maurer and Salter are all dual-threat quarterbacks. Bailey is the only pure drop-back passer on the roster now.

We mentioned the passing stats of the 2017 four-star prospect out of Dudley High School in Greensboro, N.C., but he also had 247 carries for 1,033 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground.  Simply put, Hooker’s dual-threat abilities make him a valuable prospect.

This is not where UT was when Jeremy Pruitt initially arrived. Back at the end of 2017, Pruitt rescinded a scholarship offer to Michael Penix and was standoff enough for Adrian Martinez to look elsewhere. Both are dual-threats, and Pruitt brought in Shrout.

The following summer, Pruitt brought in Keller Chryst as a graduate transfer. Then there is obviously Jarrett Guarantano. Shrout and Guarantano both were drop-back passers with big arms. Chryst and Bailey are drop-back passers more known for their accuracy.

Maurer is the only other quarterback who has played under Pruitt, and he only has 28 carries for 97 yards and two touchdowns in two years. Although Kasim Hill was in the program, he never played a game.

Taking all this into account, assuming he keeps his job, Pruitt and Jim Chaney appear to be looking to change their offensive philosophy. Next year, three of Tennessee football’s four quarterbacks with a chance to start will be mobile quarterbacks.

That’s definitely true for Chaney, who has only been working with pure drop-back passers at all of his SEC stops as on offensive coordinator. Don’t forget that Justin Fields transferred from the Georgia Bulldogs to the Ohio State Buckeyes after being a backup under Chaney.

It’s not like Chaney isn’t familiar with adapting, though. Nathan Peterman, who played for Chaney with the Vols and then with the Pittsburgh Panthers, ran for 233 yards and a touchdown under Chaney in 2015. As a result, he should be able to deal with the group of quarterbacks.

We should note that Hooker could become the starter as well. While Bailey and Salter have all the hype and are in competition to be the future starting quarterback on Rocky Top, Hooker is more experienced and, with the stats we showed you earlier, can clearly play.

An injury kept Hooker out of rhythm all year in 2020 and kept him from starting the full season. He only started six games and struggled at times. However, when fully healthy and in the right system, he’s proven he could be elite.

As a result, Tennessee football may be changing things up offensively next year. After how bad the unit was this year, that may not be a bad idea. What’s clear is that Pruitt, though, has definitely changed his philosophy with quarterbacks.