Throughout this offseason, rumors have been swirling about the Minnesota Vikings’ interest in several quarterbacks in the upcoming draft. Adding to the speculation, the team has not been forthcoming about their plans for current quarterback Kirk Cousins beyond 2023.
However, on Thursday, CBS Sports’ Will Brinson provided an intriguing suggestion in his latest mock draft. He believes the Vikings may have found Cousins’ successor in Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker.
Let’s get weird!!!! Kirk Cousins fits the scheme, knows the scheme, knows the coach, etc, etc. But he’s 34 years old and has one year left on his contract. Hooker’s coming off a torn ACL so the timeline is pretty outstanding to grab a leader/scheme dependent type QB to run this KOC offense. It gives the Vikings some pretty good leverage if there’s mutual interest in running it back for 2024 and it should motivate Cousins this year. The only question is if they’ll let him know – Brinson
While at Tennessee, Hooker demonstrated several traits that make him an intriguing prospect. He is a dual-threat quarterback who exhibited excellent arm strength and accuracy when throwing the football. Despite showing flashes of potential, he is an older prospect who displayed inconsistencies with his pocket awareness.
The Vikings could be the perfect landing spot for Hooker. Since Cousins is already there, he wouldn’t have an immediate need to start. As a result, head coach Kevin O’Connell would have the opportunity to work with him with the goal of having him as their starter in 2024.
