The Lions traded back twice out of the second round before selecting Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker in the third round with the No. 68 pick.
Allen Park — The Detroit Lions have found an upgrade at backup quarterback. After trading back twice, and out of the second round, the Lions selected Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker in the third round with the No. 68 overall pick.
Hooker, 25, who suffered a torn ACL in late November, is otherwise coming off two excellent seasons at Tennessee. In 24 games, he completed 68.8% of his passes with 58 touchdowns to just five interceptions.
Lions general manager Brad Holmes had prioritized improving Detroit’s backup situation. The team was forced to cut the underperforming tandem of Tim Boyle and David Blough at the end of training camp last year.
“I feel like last year we kind of left training camp kind of sliding into home plate trying to fill that backup quarterback role,” Holmes said at the NFL Combine. “That’s on me. I gotta do a better job of making sure that we’re not in that position again. So that is something that we’re gonna need to address whether it’s here in free agency or upcoming in the draft.
