Tennessee football QB ranked among top 10 in SEC by outlet
Fall camp has just begun, and Tennessee football is weeks away from naming a starting quarterback. The Vols have four on the roster, two of whom are returning from last year and two of whom are transfers.
While the race would seem to come down to the best performer from the spring and the one guy new head coach Josh Heupel targeted specifically, a ranking of the SEC quarterbacks for 2021 by Steve Lassan of Athlon Sports named one of the other UT quarterbacks. Virginia Tech Hokies graduate transfer Hendon Hooker came in at No. 9 on his list.
Lassan named one quarterback per school, making for a top 14 overall. The rankings, to be fair, were based on projections as much as they were past performance, so this is a prediction that Hooker will start for Tennessee football as well. Here’s a bit of what Lassan said about him.
"Hooker was a solid performer from 2019-20 at Virginia Tech, throwing for 2,894 yards and 22 touchdowns to just seven picks and running for just under 1,000 yards and 14 scores in that span. Heupel can tweak his scheme to fit whichever quarterback wins the job, and the new staff should feel relatively confident in this position considering the options in Knoxville this fall."
On paper, Hooker would seem like the best option to start. He’s the one dual-threat quarterback who has actually played at the college level in a system that incorporates elements of the spread offense. As a senior, he also has the most experience.
However, Harrison Bailey, the one pure pocket passer on the team who was a five-star recruit in 2020 and started two games for the Vols that year, was the best performer in the spring, outplaying Hooker in the process. That would seem to count for something.
Meanwhile, Michigan Wolverines transfer Joe Milton is the one player at the position Heupel specifically signed. Another pocket passer who can run when necessary, Heupel also recruited Milton when he was offensive coordinator of the Missouri Tigers, and he touted Milton specifically above other quarterbacks in multiple interviews during the summer.
As a result, with Heupel appearing to have a bias towards Milton and Bailey outperforming Hooker in the spring, you would think the odds would be stacked against Hooker to be the starter. However, we should note that Milton is a bit behind having missed spring ball, and Hooker’s mobility may still make him a better fit for Heupel’s system.
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All of this will make for an interesting quarterback race in August. Tennessee football still has Brian Maurer on the roster as well, and he could certainly win the job. The race is wide open right now, but if Hooker does win the job, he’s got lots of potential.