Hooker has been working with Jamie Newman of New Outcome Athletics. Newman was the quarterback for Wake Forest from 2017 to 2019 and in 2019 Newman went head-to-head with Hooker and Virginia Tech. Hooker led the Hokies to a big win over the then ranked number 22 Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The two also grew up 25 minutes from each other in North Carolina.
This is a big season for Hooker because he’s experiencing a lot of things for the first time. In the spring he had his first OTAs and minicamp and next week he’ll report to training camp for the first time and then we’ll get to see him take his first NFL snaps when the Lions play the New York Giants on August 8th.
The jury is fully out on Hooker and there’s a lot of questions about whether or not he can play in the NFL or even if the Lions will have him as their QB2 this season or if they’ll carry three and have Nate Sudfeld be the backup while Hooker puts in a year of work.
Hooker is definitely moving in the right direction by putting in some offseason work and he did look good during the spring despite some gaffes here and there. We’re going to find out pretty soon where this is all heading.