Former Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker was selected by the Detroit Lions during Friday night's third round of the National Football League draft in Kansas City, Missouri.
The 6-foot-3, 217-pounder becomes the first Volunteers quarterback drafted since Josh Dobbs in 2017. Hooker was the 68th overall selection and the second Vols player picked in this year's draft, with right tackle Darnell Wright going 10th overall Thursday to the Chicago Bears.
Hooker spent two seasons in Knoxville after arriving as a graduate transfer from Virginia Tech, and he made the most of them by completing 435 of 632 attempts (68.8%) for 6,080 yards with 58 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He is the most efficient quarterback in Tennessee history, and he became the program's first Southeastern Conference offensive player of the year last season since the league in 2002 went to offensive and defensive MVP categories.
Though Hooker tore his left anterior cruciate ligament last November in the season's 11th game at South Carolina, he still managed to finish fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.