Tennessee football: K.J. Jefferson over Hendon Hooker wrong move by outlet

It’s been a while since a Tennessee football player might be considered among the best in the SEC. However, entering 2022, that’s the type Hendon Hooker is getting as he returns for his graduate senior season after thriving his first year under Josh Heupel.

Brad Crawford of 247Sports placed Hooker at No. 6 on his list of the top 12 SEC players entering 2022. However, even with that ranking, Crawford showed Hooker the ultimate disrespect by having him No. 3 among quarterbacks.

Bryce Young of the Alabama Crimson Tide came in at No. 2, and K.J. Jefferson of the Arkansas Razorbacks was No. 5. Jefferson being ahead was the egregious part of the rankings. Here’s a bit of what Crawford wrote about Hooker on his list.

"With a year under his belt coming off a career-best five-touchdown game against Purdue, Hooker is anxious to try and set program records this fall as the facilitator for the nation’s fastest unit (snaps per minute). Hooker is a nightmare to try and contain outside of the pocket because if your defense commits, his arm is good enough to beat you downfield with a long ball. Tennessee should lead the SEC East in chunk plays this season because of No. 5 at quarterback."

That level of respect is nice, but putting Jefferson over Hooker makes no sense. There is literally no part of the passing game where Hooker isn’t better. Last year, Hooker had a higher completion percentage, more yards, more yards per attempt, more touchdowns and fewer interceptions.

Now, you can add Jefferson’s mobility, but it doesn’t make up for how much more Hooker dominates in the passing game. Last year, Jefferson ran for 664 yards and six touchdowns while averaging four and a half yards a carry. Hooker ran for 616 yards and five touchdowns, averaging over three and a half yards per carry.

This wouldn’t make sense to do, but let’s combine their rushing and passing yards with their rushing and passing attempts, which by the way includes sacks at the college level if you want to do that to Hooker. That would skew towards Jefferson. Hooker still wins.

Hooker would have 3,561 yards on 469 rushes and passes (7.592 yards per overall attempt), 36 touchdowns and seven total turnovers (three interceptions, four lost fumbles). Jefferson would have 3,340 yards on 440 total attempts (7.591 yards per attempt), 27 touchdowns and six turnovers (four interceptions, two lost fumbles).

That means Hooker has more total yards, slightly more yards per overall attempt, more touchdowns and even a better touchdown to turnover ratio, as 36:7 is slightly over 5:1 while 27:6 is 4.5:1. So from efficiency to raw numbers, Hooker wins the day.

Putting Young ahead of Hooker makes sense. He’s the prototypical quarterback who also racks up better numbers with the team built around him. On the other hand, it’s not like Hooker doesn’t have a case when comparing those two as well. It’s more clear with Jefferson, though.

Don’t forget that Hooker was Tennessee football’s backup to start the year, so he came into the starting lineup having taken far fewer reps with the first team than Jefferson. He was also playing in a new system as a Virginia Tech Hokies transfer in his first year under Josh Heupel. Jefferson was in his second year with Sam Pittman and Kendal Briles.

When you factor that into account, Crawford’s reasoning for Jefferson’s rank makes less sense. He didn’t address putting Jefferson over Hooker directly, but in Jefferson’s case, he touted Pittman’s statement that few Arkansas players have developed as much as Jefferson in the offseason. What does that mean?

If Crawford is relying on that quote, this is based on nothing more than projection. However, the production is clear. Also, when you consider that Jefferson had Treylon Burks last year, who is now gone to the NFL, while Tennessee football returns its top wideout in Cedric Tillman, projection and production should both favor Hooker.