Rick Spielman Compares Hendon Hooker to a Former Vikings First-Round Pick
The 2023 NFL Draft is intriguing and shrouded in mystery for a number of reasons, but first and foremost among these reasons is the uncertainty at the quarterback position. Currently, there are five QBs in the discussion to go in the first round of this week’s draft:
- Bryce Young
- C.J. Stroud
- Will Levis
- Anthony Richardson
- Hendon Hooker
While one or two names from the first four on this list may fall, the quartet at the top seem like locks for the first round. Hendon Hooker, on the other hand, is a borderline first-round pick, depending on how the board falls. One team that he has been connected to more than any other is the Minnesota Vikings, and on Monday, former Vikings GM Rick Spielman chatted with Darren Wolfson of KSTP to discuss the draft. During the chat, Hooker’s name came up.
Spielman is no stranger to drafting QBs as during his 16 years with the Vikings, Minnesota selected seven quarterbacks in the draft. However, there is one name that Spielman comped Hooker to in this discussion with Wolfson that should capture the attention of Vikings fans: 2014 first-round pick Teddy Bridgewater. Here is what Spielman said of Hooker that drew such a comparison:
Hendon Hooker’s name has been gaining a little steam here as of late. There’s no question about his maturity level, his leadership skills, everything he does off the field, and then what he did at Tennessee. They’re going to criticize him a bit for the type of offense that he ran, but you still have to go out and execute those throws.
We had the opportunity to sit and visit with him on set and interview him…he reminded me a lot from a personality standpoint, from a leadership standpoint, from all the intangibles [of] when we drafted Teddy Bridgewater.
Bridgewater was selected with the 32nd overall pick out of Louisville by the Vikings. By Week 3 of his rookie season, he was the full-time starter for Minnesota. In 12 starts during that 2014 season, the Vikings went 6-6 under Bridgewater.
2015 is when everything clicked for Bridgewater. He started all 16 games for the Vikings that year, completing 65.3% of his passes for 3231 yards, 14 TDs, and 9 INTs while being named to the Pro Bowl and helping the Vikings go 11-5 and win the NFC North.
Of course, as most stories do in Minnesota sports, this ends in heartbreak as the Vikings lost in the Wild Card round on the Blair Walsh missed field goal, and during training camp in 2016, Bridgewater suffered a dislocated knee and torn ACL in practice on a non-contact play. He would never start in a Vikings uniform again, joining the New Orleans Saints in 2018.
While the story of Bridgewater didn’t end well in Minnesota, he showed major promise in his development pre-injury. Hooker shows a lot of the same traits as Bridgewater in terms of his accurate passing and mobility in the pocket, so perhaps the former Vikings GM may be on to something with this comparison.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.
