Las Vegas Raiders 7-round 2023 NFL Mock Draft: Early FA edition
The addition of Jimmy Garoppolo allows the Raiders to be patient and they can wait until the third round to grab a potential star in Hendon Hooker out of Tennessee. We have linked the Raiders to Hooker a few times by this point and he just makes sense despite being an older prospect.
Josh McDaniels’ offense is notoriously difficult to learn and having Garoppolo on board helps take the pressure off Hooker needing to contribute right away. The Raiders may even add another QB with experience in the McDaniels offense like Brian Hoyer to serve as a backup plan even in case of an injury to Garoppolo.
Hooker has great size, a big arm, put up huge numbers, and would be a much higher pick if he wasn’t coming off an ACL tear. He looks the part of a franchise QB and the Raiders would be lucky if he is available at this point. Another option could be Clayton Tune of Houston or Tanner McKee out of Stanford but Hooker is the preferred option here.