Film breakdown: All 11 Hendon Hooker dropbacks vs. Chargers

Breaking down every passing opportunity from Hendon Hooker in the Lions’ preseason opener.

One of the biggest storylines from the Detroit Lions ’ preseason opener was the disappointing play from the backup quarterbacks. When it comes to third-year passer Hendon Hooker, there was an expectation—based on gained experience and training camp hype—that he would have looked far more polished. Instead, Hooker went just 3-of-6 for 18 yards, two sacks, and an interception.

And while coach Dan Campbell offered some praise for Hooker , most of that came in the form of his pre-snap work, getting the team into proper protections against the Chargers defense.

That is a sign of progress, for sure, but the post-snap work was undoubtedly concerning. So I went back and watched all the all-22 film of Hooker’s 11 dropbacks to see what went wrong for the former third-round pick.

First-and-10 from own 35-yard line

Result: Scramble for 2 yards

(Note: This play was oddly missing from the all-22 film, so I had to rely on the broadcast angle)

On a play-action rollout, Hooker immediately has a blitzing defender in his face. While Lovett is open, Hooker doesn’t really have the opportunity to throw it over the charging defender, so he makes a nice spin move to make the linebacker miss, picks up a couple yards… and SLIDES! Progress!

Third-and-14 from own 31-yard line

Result: Incomplete

Hooker’s first throw of the game came on a very unfavorable down and distance. Still, you’d like to see a better throw here. There may have been a miscommunication between him and receiver Dominic Lovett—Lovett sat down in an open spot of the zone when there was likely some room to continue his route before the safety was a problem—but it doesn’t really excuse an undeniably high, inaccurate throw.

Second-and-6 from own 25-yard line

Result: Complete pass to Dominic Lovett for 7 yards, first down

Hooker immediately sees that the corner opposite Lovett is in zone, giving him complete inside leverage. Hooker wastes no time delivering a throw, but it, too, is high. Lovett has to leave his feet to catch it, and does a good job of spinning away from contact to fall forward for the first down.

Second-and-8 from own 46-yard line

After three straight runs, Hooker again makes a quick, decisive read. After looking off tight end Zach Horton in the flats—drawing the playside corner outside—he finds Jackson Meeks for an easy 5-yard pickup. Nothing fancy here, but it’s the right progression of reads, and an accurately delivered ball. When Dan Campbell talked about wanting his quarterbacks to just take what the defenses are giving them, this is what he’s talking about.

Third-and-3 from Chargers 49-yard line

Play result: Incomplete deep pass to Jakobie Keeney-James

In a max-protect look, Hooker immediately looks to Keeney-James’ side of the field, where he’s the only receiver. With the single-high safety cheating to the other side of the field, he has Keeney-James essentially in a one-on-one look. The receiver gets a step on the cornerback, but Hooker’s ball is short and inside, when it needed to be long and outside. Keeney-James makes a strong effort to get there and probably should’ve drawn a defensive pass interference flag, but a better throw was needed. Despite it being a low-percentage play, I do think this was the correct read from Hooker.

Fourth-and-3 from Chargers 49-yard line

Play result: Scramble for 2 yards, turnover on downs

This is supposed to be a bang-bang play for a quick pickup. Unfortunately, Jackson Meeks is pressed at the line and stumbles. It disrupts the timing of the play, and Hooker is forced to scramble. In an ideal world, you’d like him to be a little more patient in the pocket and maybe look to the other side of the field. However, he was sensing the pocket collapsing from his blindside (it was), and I don’t think extending the play with his feet was a bad decision here. However, he did take a very big hit at the end of the play—with his head slamming into the turf —and he needs to be more careful there.

First-and-10 from own 30-yard line

Play result: Scramble for 4 yards

This is where some of the hesitation from last year showed up. Hooker has two crossing routes about 15 yards deep that are both viable options here. Granted, there is a linebacker he’ll have to float it over, but he certainly has enough arm talent to make this throw. Ronnie Bell (#10) is plenty open when Hooker still has a clean pocket. That ball should’ve been out.

Third-and-5 from own 35-yard line

Play result: Sack

This is another one on Hooker where I’d just like to see him rip it. Granted, if Hooker gets literally a quarter of a second more protection from right tackle Mason Miller, he fires this to Lovett for a big gain. Still, if he throws with anticipation to a spot, I think he can get that ball to where it needed to be before the hit came.

Second-and-6 from own 38-yard line

Play result: Sack

Either there was a missed assignment on this play or it’s a horribly designed play. On the play-action rollout, Hooker spins to the left side of the field where there is only a single route: Zach Horton, who is completely covered by a defender. Again, Hooker tries to create something with his feet, but doesn’t.

The only other option I could possibly see here is to throw a shovel pass to Kenny Yeboah (#88) but he is not putting much effort into a route and does not look prepared to catch.

Third-and-8 from own 36-yard line

Play result: 6-yard pass to Jacob Saylors

With pressure bearing down from a stunting defender who is poorly picked up by Michael Niese, Hooker has two options: rip a ball down the seam to Lovett before the safety closes in or check down to the running back. He chooses the safer option, setting up a fourth-and-short.

From a selfish point of view, I’d like to see him fire that ball up the seam, but I don’t think the coaching staff will fault him for the checkdown here.

Fourth-and-2 from own 42-yard line

Play result: Interception

Hooker makes the right read, but his ball to Lovett is not ideal. It’s a little short, and with Lovett drawing to his left, the ball was thrown too far right, forcing the rookie receiver to give up the step or two he had on the flat-footed safety. It’s also worth noting that Hooker appeared to get bumped as he was releasing the football.

Still, the ball was good enough to land in Lovett’s hands. The defender was able to just rip it away.

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So what did we learn?

Well, for one, Hooker’s accuracy was a little off, particularly early in the game. And while there was an instance or two where I would have liked him to rip the ball out instead of holding onto it, a lot of his decision-making was sound based on some errors of the people around him. At times, he wasn’t helped by protection, receivers stumbling, or odd play designs/missed assignments, but he bears plenty of blame for the performance, as well.