If the Carolina Panthers are unable to trade up from the draft’s ninth overall pick, they may be out of luck on day-one quarterbacks. But there may be an interesting fallback option.
After his media availability at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday, general manager Scott Fitterer joined The Clubhouse with Kyle Bailey to talk even more shop. Right before closing up his spot, host Kyle Bailey asked of Greensboro, N.C. native and University of Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker—who is gaining some steam heading into the spring.
“We met with him this morning and he was great,” Fitterer said of Hooker. “We didn’t have a bad interview with a quarterback. Sometimes you do and it’s like, ‘Ugh, we’re done.’ Hendon was really solid. When you watch the tape—he throws a great deep ball, he’s a nice natural passer. He’s got a lot to work with. He’s one of those guys we’re definitely monitoring and we’re definitely interested in.”
The 25-year-old is, unfortunately, coming off an ACL tear he sustained back in November. So, no, we will not be seeing him on the field in Indianapolis this weekend.
But before going down, Hooker proved to be one of the nation’s most exciting players under center. The 6-foot-4, 218-pounder completed 69.6 percent of his passes for 3,135 yards, 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions through 11 games. He also ran for 430 more yards and five more scores.
In addition to Hooker, the Panthers have already met with the “big four” of the class—Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis.
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