Former Tennessee Vols QB Hendon Hooker gets terrific news on Tuesday among Detroit Lions roster cuts

It looks like former Tennessee Vols QB Hendon Hooker will be sticking around the Motor City for a little while longer.

The former Tennessee Vols QB has won the preseason backup quarterback battle in Detroit.  His competition, Nate Sudfeld, has reportedly been released as part of the Lions' roster cuts on Tuesday.

Hooker, as every Tennessee fan knows, suffered an ACL tear during the Vols' 63-38 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks late in the 2022 season.  Despite the injury, Hooker still was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft.  Unfortunately, Hooker wasn't able to participate in training camp and the preseason as he worked to recovery from his injury.

His first professional work came in the Lions' week one contest against the New York Giants, a slow overall start, but one that saw him remind everyone as far as his athleticism and competitiveness.

The news was better the next week, as Hooker led three second half scoring drives as the Lions won 24-23 at Kansas City.  Hooker finished 12/15 for 150 yards with a 7-yard rushing score.

He managed to cap his preseason with a mixed bag of a performance in a 24-17 win against Pittsburgh.  Hooker was sacked five times and threw an interception, but he also led three touchdown drives.

Plenty of good and bad, but enough to beat out Sudfeld, who could do next to nothing throughout the preseason.  But considering Hooker was playing in his first game environment in a year and a half, there were some encouraging signs from Hooker that Detroit obviously preferred over Sudfeld's experience.

We'll see if the Lions end up adding another quarterback once roster cuts across the league are done and perhaps add some competition at the backup QB spot, but for now it looks like Hooker is going to see his name on the Lions' initial 53-man roster when it's released on Tuesday afternoon.

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