Hendon Hooker’s run with the Tennessee Titans took an ugly turn at the last possible moment.
For a stretch, it looked like the former Tennessee star had done enough to carve out a spot on the 53-man roster. He was navigating a crowded quarterback room and, by the way things appeared, had even pushed past former Kentucky Wildcat and 2nd-round pick Will Levis to secure his place.
Then came the preseason finale against the Chicago Bears, the final chance to make a case before rosters had to be set. Hooker handled it well, showing steady quarterback play and flashing the kind of open-field burst that brought back memories of his Tennessee days.
It still wasn’t enough. The Titans moved on and waived him, leaving the team with only two quarterbacks on the roster.
That’s a frustrating twist for a player who has already had to keep fighting for another shot. Hooker entered the league as a 3rd-round pick by the Detroit Lions in the 2023 NFL draft and spent two seasons there as a backup before being waived in 2025. After that, he bounced to the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets practice squads last season.
There was already plenty of speculation that Hooker would once again be left on the outside looking in with Tennessee, and that’s exactly how it played out. His NFL path has not followed the script many expected, though there is still a chance he sticks around if the Titans decide to bring him back on the practice squad.
So far, Hooker has played in only three NFL games and attempted just nine passes, all of them in 2024 with the Lions while backing up Jared Goff. He still has not thrown his first official NFL touchdown.
For now, his future is unsettled. If Tennessee does circle back, it would give Hooker a chance to try to reboot his career in the state where he became a household name.
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Tennessees New Defensive Front Has A Camp Name Fans Need To Know
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For Tennessee, that matters because Knowles is arriving with fresh expectations and a roster in transition, and the defensive front will be one of the clearest indicators of how fast the new system takes hold. Gilliams emergence has added some early momentum to that process, and the attention he has earned suggests there may be more to this front than just a schematic change as camp gives way to game prep. [Read more 🡒]