If Hendon Hooker had slid just a bit further Friday night, he might have landed with the Patriots.
The Athletic's Jeff Howe reported after Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft that New England "had shown a great deal of interest" in the Tennessee quarterback prospect, "to the point where it wouldn't have been a surprise if they took him in the third round."
Hooker wound up going 68th overall to the Detroit Lions, making him the fifth QB selected after Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis. The Patriots took Sacramento State safety/linebacker Marte Mapu eight picks later.
Howe reported the Patriots "never considered" Levis, the Kentucky product who visited them before the draft and surprisingly fell to early Round 2.
"Hooker was a different story, though," Howe wrote, "because he could have been ready in 2024 if (Mac) Jones didn't make the leap the team expects under new offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien. Hooker might have served as a contingency plan for another point down the road."
With his 37 games of collegiate starting experience, 69.6% completion rate in 2022 and 58-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio over the last two seasons, Hooker has a lot of the traits New England typically looks for in its quarterbacks. He also would have added some dual-threat ability to their QB room after rushing for 2,083 yards and 25 touchdowns in college.
Hooker wasn't a perfect fit, though. He played in a simplistic offense at Tennessee, which could have made for a difficult transition to New England's scheme. He's also coming off a torn ACL that ended his 2022 season last November, and he's already 25 -- older than both Jones and Bailey Zappe.
It's unclear whether the Patriots plan to add a quarterback on Day 3 of the draft, but this year's class features a significant dropoff in talent after Hooker. Potential late-round targets for New England include Fresno State's Jake Haener, Houston's Clayton Tune, Purdue's Aiden O'Connell, UCLA's Dorian Thompson-Robinson and TCU's Max Duggan.
The Patriots used each of their first three picks on defensive players, taking Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez in Round 1, Georgia Tech defensive end Keion White in Round 2 and Sacramento State linebacker/safety Marte Mapu in Round 3.
