Tennessee football: Five concerning signs from 2021 spring practice
2. Hendon Hooker didn’t stand out over other quarterbacks.
With Kaidon Salter suspended and Michigan Wolverines transfer Joe Milton not arriving until the summer, spring practice was made for Hendon Hooker to stand out. He should have immediately become Tennessee football’s top quarterback. That didn’t happen.
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Hooker held his own with Brian Maurer and Harrison Bailey, to be fair, and he could be the starter. After all, he had two touchdowns in the spring game. However, he also had the only turnover in the game, and in previous scrimmages he struggled a lot at times. Those were not good signs for the Virginia Tech Hokies dual-threat transfer.
Why does this all matter? Hooker had the most experience running any spread. Bailey and Maurer just came out of Jim Chaney’s offense, so they shouldn’t have been competitive with him, but Bailey was actually ahead of Hooker. Given what we saw last year and what we know about the defense, that’s likely more of an indictment of Hooker than a case for Bailey.
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Now, to be fair, Hooker was learning a new system as well, even if his adjustment was a bit less. Still, the Vols could have used him standing out in a big way so Josh Heupel could start him this year and then, with Tayven Jackson arriving next year, have an open quarterback competition after a splash first season.