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Hendon Hooker: I’ll be a sponge, picking Jared Goff’s brain whenever I can

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Mike Florio and Chris Simms examine the Lions’ move to draft Hendon Hooker in Round 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft and discuss what this means for Jared Goff’s future in Detroit.

The Lions drafted Hendon Hooker in the third round on Friday night and the former Tennessee starter will begin his career behind Jared Goff on the team’s depth chart.

Hooker’s continued recovery from last season’s torn ACL means that he won’t be doing much to push Goff this summer, although his doctors have said that they expect him to be ready to play at the start of the 2023 season. Once he has moved past the rehab stage, Hooker said that he will turn his attention to learning as much as he can by being “a sponge” whenever he’s around Goff.

“To come in and learn everything, every nuance on how to be a pro, first and foremost,” Hooker said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “And then just admire him. He’s been in this league for a long time and he’s been doing a great job of developing every year to get better and better, and that’s all you can ask for. So I’m definitely going to be picking his brain whenever I can, probably going to get annoying to him a little bit but I’m just that type of person. I just want to get in and do my job, epseically and continue to get better day by day.”

Hooker added that “whenever I’m ready to rock and roll, that’s going to be a sight to see” on the field. It remains to be seen when that will be, but it’s clear what Hooker will be up to in the meantime.