The Cowboys have indulged in upgrading the safety position quite a bit for the 2021 season. Damontae Kazee and Jayron Kearse were signed back in March with the former seen as a possible starter at free safety and the latter as more of a depth addition and special teams piece. The biggest splash, however, came this past Tuesday when 2017 first-round pick Malik Hooker was signed after his second visit with the team.
The former Indianapolis Colt may have a new NFL home but joining Dallas reunites him with two players he’s very familiar with. Ezekiel Elliott and Noah Brown were college teammates of Hooker’s at Ohio State and they were all members of their 2014 National Championship squad.
Hooker and Brown both arrived at Ohio State in 2014 and were roommates. They’ve remained close friends to this day, and Brown recently described what Hooker brings to the Cowboy’s defense.
“He’s a playmaker,” Brown said, via the team’s website. “He can cover the whole field. He’s not scared to come down and hit either. I expect him to make a lot of big plays.”
Brown got to see Hooker’s skill set on full display during their final college season in 2016. Hooker tallied seven interceptions and scored three defensive touchdowns while garnering Consensus All-American and First-Team All-Big Ten honors.
Elliott arrived on campus in Columbus, Ohio a year before Hooker. However, going up against him in practice allowed Elliott to get a feel for Hooker’s game and he believes, like Brown does, that the Cowboy’s defense got that much better by bringing him in.
“I think that he brings a lot of things to the table,” Elliott said. “He’s long. He has a lot of range. He can run sideline to sideline, so I think it’s a good addition to the defense that we have.”
Unfortunately for Hooker, he tore his ACL and MCL during his rookie campaign and only played in seven games (still managed to get three interceptions). He also suffered a torn Achilles, cutting his 2020 campaign short.
But, Hooker showed in 2018 and 2019 why the Cowboys were high on bringing him in. He started 27 games and registered 95 tackles, four interceptions, and two fumble recoveries while logging 1,700 snaps.
He’s appeared at a few training camp practices but the Cowboys are being cautious and bringing him along slowly. Rehabbing from a difficult injury like an Achilles tear requires a lot of hard work and dedication. Hooker is in a good place physically as he looks to get back to putting the loads on soon.
“Physically right now I feel great,” Hooker said. “No setbacks as far as where I’m at in the process of recovery. Now it’s just taking my time and working back into playing football again because I’ve been off going on a year now.”
Injuries are a frustrating thing to deal with especially when you’re an effective player like Hooker. However, that hasn’t swayed his confidence in his game and he sees himself as a difference-maker for the Cowboy’s defense.
“Athletic ballhawk,” Hooker said. “That’s what I’ve been since I came out. … I feel like I’m a game-changer, and vocally I’m a leader.”
He’ll compete with the aforementioned Kazee for who will start at free safety opposite Donovan Wilson. That will come in due time as he keeps taking the proper steps to return to fieldwork, and it’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top.
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