Hendon Hooker named to Davey O’Brien watchlist

How far we’ve come in just 12 months. One year ago, Tennessee’s quarterback situation was still a mystery. You had Joe Milton coming in from Michigan, but missed spring practice. You had Harrison Bailey sitting there as a logical choice after his lofty recruiting ranking from a few years back. And then you had Hendon Hooker — a guy that couldn’t hold onto the starting job at Virginia Tech, and someone who committed to the previous staff.

Hooker stuck it out and he was quickly rewarded with the starting job three weeks into the season. From there, it was all pretty smooth sailing. Hooker put together one of the best seasons we’ve ever seen at the quarterback position in Knoxville, and he decided to run it back and take advantage of his super senior season.

Now, Hooker is expected to be one of the top passers in college football. On Tuesday, he was named to the Davey O’Brien Award watchlist.

Hooker joined several of the top names in the sport on the list, including C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young and Caleb Williams. From the SEC, Will Rogers, Spencer Rattler, Stetson Bennett, Will Levis and KJ Jefferson also cracked the list.

Hooker returns with top receiver Cedric Tillman, also bringing back four of his five offensive linemen from last season. He gets both of his veteran tight ends backs as well. All of the pieces of the puzzle are there for Hooker and this Tennessee offense to put up big numbers once again.