Report: Former Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker to visit Las Vegas Raiders on Friday

Following his exceptional two-year stint at Tennessee to end his college football career, quarterback Hendon Hooker is starting to rise up the draft boards as we close in on the real thing. He was clearly one of the best quarterbacks in the country last year and had a real path to the Heisman Trophy had he not gone down with injury. Speaking of that injury: had Hooker not suffered one of the worst injuries in al of football just before the season ended, he’d certainly be a first round pick.

However, after months of staying parked in the second round according to mock drafts and projections, Hooker is receiving some first round buzz. In fact, he even met with a team this week that needs a quarterback and has a high pick. That team: the Las Vegas Raiders. According to NFL reporter Albert Breer, the Raiders will use one of their top 30 visits on him to get a look at the Volunteer star up close.

Here was Breer’s report, which he tweeted out on Thursday morning:

“Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker will be in Vegas for a (top) 30 visit with the Raiders tomorrow, per sources. The Raiders had Ohio State’s CJ Stroud in earlier in the week. After Hooker visits, the team will have had each of the draft’s presumptive Top 5 QBs to their facility.”

Vegas is doing their homework on all the top quarterbacks, including Hendon Hooker. Now, the Raiders pick at No. 7, which seems a bit high for Hooker considering that, during the pre-draft process so far, he hasn’t sniffed projections that high.

But then you look at the top of the draft and see five out of six teams picking ahead of Las Vegas that all could use a new and long-term answer at quarterback. We know the Panthers traded up to No. 1 to grab one and the Texans are most certainly selecting one as well. After that, Indianapolis at No. 4 likely goes quarterback after they’ve had a different player lead them in passing for seven consecutive seasons. So, some stability there would be nice.

After that, Seattle and Detroit may not be as desperate for a rookie quarterback, but neither team can feel confident about their futures at the position, which makes you think they’ll snatch up one of the top four guys if they fall.

That leaves Vegas at seven, who may need to draft Hendon Hooker our of sheer need if they do intend to land a quarterback this cycle. Because with all the others potentially gone by pick No. 7, it’d be a fool’s gamble to assume Hooker will drop to their next pick at No. 38.

Sounds crazy but don’t count out the Tennessee star heading to the desert. Perhaps a Hooker will finally do some good in Las Vegas.