Spoiler alert: The answer is Hendon Hooker. It’s pretty obvious, right?
ESPN’s Bill Connelly recently went through the record books and stat sheets to determine who he believes are the Top 50 transfer players from the portal era (2018-2023, as Connelly writes).
Going through the list and seeing all of the talented and headlining players was reason enough to believe that Hendon Hooker would be on the list. And, sure enough, the former Vol landed in the Top 10.
Hendon Hooker is ranked as the 10th-best transfer player in the portal era according to ESPN.
“After flashing major dual-threat potential but falling out of favor in Blacksburg, Hooker came to Knoxville to play in Josh Heupel’s explosive system. Good call,” Connelly wrote. “He was good in 2021, then great in 2022, leading the Vols to an 8-0 start, an epic win over Alabama, and a brief No. 1 ranking and, despite a season-ending November injury, finishing fifth in the Heisman voting.”
More from RTI: Tennessee Football Offers Texas A&M Offensive Line Transfer
Over the span of 24 games with Tennessee, Hooker racked up 6,080 passing yards, 1,050 rushing yards, and 68 total touchdowns.
Hooker began his career at Virginia Tech and spent three years with the Hokies program from 2018 to 2020. Hooker then made the switch to Tennessee and found his opportunity to become the starting quarterback after an injury to fellow transfer quarterback Joe Milton early into the 2021 season. The 6-foot-4 quarterback took the keys to Josh Heupel’s Ferrari and didn’t look back.
Hooker was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year after the 2022 season as he led the Vols to 9-1 record before the South Carolina game in which he suffered a season-ending ACL injury.
Hendon Hooker is the only Tennessee player on Connelly’s list of 50 transfers.
The former Tennessee quarterback has stolen some headlines in the NFL world over the recent week. The Detroit Lions activated Hooker off the NFI (non-football injury) list this past week which allows him to return to the practice field with his teammates.
The Hendon Hooker practice debut is here 👀
The rookie QB out of Tennessee wears number 12 for the #Lions pic.twitter.com/ydoHoP1pff
— Matt Broder (@mattbro21) November 29, 2023
Other notable players include Colorado QB Sheduer Sanders (45), Kentucky QB Will Levis (40), Texas QB Quinn Ewers (37), Liberty QB Malik Willis (25), Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel (9), Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts (8), LSU QB Jayden Daniels (4), Oregon QB Bo Nix (3), LSU QB Joe Burrow (1).
One Response
He was by far the best QB we had since Dobbs, if not Manning. Seemed to be a great teammate and person. Hope he has a long and great NFL career.