Confidence in the quarterback position often comes around once in a blue moon for many of college football’s head coaches. While it differs depending on the prestige of the program, recruiting, and a variety of unnamed outliers, the Tennessee Volunteers could showcase one of the biggest Heisman Trophy sleepers this fall, Hendon Hooker.

This time last fall, it was a battle of three arms in Knoxville. As it usually does, the heat of summer months often strains out the undeserving. One prevailed in the form of Hooker, a Virginia Tech transfer in search of pumping fresh air into the lungs of his football career—a 9:5 touchdown to interception ratio the prior season suffocated his production. A redshirt senior as he approaches 2022, the dual-threat talent has become a name to watch as the Volunteers prepare for an unrelenting slate of games this fall.

“For Hendon—and I’ve said this to him—this year is not about stats, touchdowns, interceptions, yards. It’s about wins,” said head coach Josh Heupel. “Managing all those expectations and just focusing on doing your job at the highest level is the most important thing for him.”

While his 31 touchdowns compared to three picks last year have raised the performance ceiling heading into 2022, a deeper dive into his evolving game has the industry on notice despite concerns surrounding his age of next April (25). An offense that moves at a tempo unmatched by many in the college game, the Volunteers operate at a clip of nearly three plays per minute. In layman’s terms, they work a defense to death.

Led by Heupel, Hooker’s progression during spring ball should see his game reach new heights this fall with his top wideout Cedric Tillman back in the fold.

This is about as good as it gets at the college level. And who better to do it against than Alabama?

A simple nine-route to the boundary in a 2×2 set, Hooker drops it out of the sky some 42 yards downfield. Although defensive back DeMarcco Hellams did well to make up the gap created by Tillman at the onset of the route, Hooker placed the ball in a spot only his wideout could make a play.

While you could look at it from a 10,000-foot view and say it’s a simple throw from the pocket where there’s controlled chaos around him, if you’ve ever aligned under center, an appreciation for touch throws like this is well deserved. The play, although it fell into the shadows in a 52-24 Volunteers loss to the Crimson Tide, was a culmination of Hooker’s development from the shoulders up.

His time in Blacksburg often showcased a quarterback attempting to play hero ball. Forcing throws, failing to read coverages, the way in which the veteran quarterback went about his business wasn’t good practice—pun wholeheartedly intended. But now, and for a Tennessee program set to take on Alabama, Georgia, Florida, LSU, and Pitt this fall, his game will take on a brighter spotlight. With more eyes comes a bigger chance to skyrocket his NFL draft stock this fall.

A talent flying under the radar in what is expected to be a much improved 2023 class under center, Hooker has all the traits necessary to find himself in the thick of the Heisman race come winter. For Tennessee’s sake, he’s everything they got, and continued improvement within Heupel’s scheme should showcase one of the country’s most intriguing prospects to follow in 2022.