After the Detroit Lions' second preseason game, head coach Dan Campbell basically declared the battle for the No. 2 quarterback spot was over. Kyle Allen will be the guy, barring a surprising late preseason pivot, and Hendon Hooker's future with the team is now a confirmed question.
Since the start of training camp, if not before, it has made no sense for the Lions to keep Hooker as the No. 3 quarterback if he was unable to beat out Allen. Spots on the 53-man roster are too precious for them to carry three quarterbacks, so Hooker would then become trade bait or an obvious (to most people) cut.
The final week of the preseason could very well be an attempt by the Lions to showcase Hooker for a trade, even if all they'd probably get is a conditional Day 3 draft pick. Failing that, with no disrespect meant, losing Hooker to another team via waivers would not be a huge deal.
Dan Campbell all but confirms the inevitable outcome with Hendon Hooker
Campbell talked to the media before Thursday's joint practice against the Houston Texans. Upcoming roster decisions were of course a topic, and Campbell was asked about keeping three quarterbacks over having a roster spot to use on another position.
"That’s exactly what it is," Campbell said. "If you do that (keep three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster), you lose depth with the D-line, or O-line, or a receiver, or a defensive back, or a linebacker. You get the point. So, how important is that relative to the other positions?"
"And what’s hard is, look, you can call it what you want", Campbell continued, "when you have a year like we did last year, you get affected a little bit by it, it has an effect on the way you think and depth, depth, depth. We gotta make sure that we have the depth."
When Hooker was drafted in the third round (No. 68 overall) in the 2023 draft, the fallacies of it was how he was working his way back from a torn ACL and he was 25 years old. His rookie season was a "redshirt year" as he rehabbed his injury, but he has clearly not developed as hoped over the last two offseasons, training camps, etc.
If Hooker is cut (or traded?) and finds success elsewhere, so be it and good for him. But his days as a Detroit Lion appear to be numbered, even if Campbell couldn't say it in exactly that many words.
