Brad Holmes finally did it, even though he probably didn’t mean to do it.
The Detroit Lions general manager has at long last given us the potential to have a good, old-fashioned quarterback controversy — if not this season, then certainly the next.
All thanks to Holmes’ bold decision to select Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker in the third round of the NFL draft.
Holmes and the Lions will probably try to spin this is a high-minded strategic gamble (please excuse the expression, Jamo) on a 25-year-old promising player coming off a torn ACL. Sadly, fans and us media types aren’t high-minded strategists. We’re action junkies who love juicy drama.
And that’s what we’re going to get. Holmes told reporters last week that there was no timeline for Hooker’s availability, though I would bet (sorry, Jamo) Hooker will begin the season on the non-football injury list.
“The same thing we talked about with Jamo, you just kind of just let it just play itself out,” Holmes said. “We’re very, very happy with what the medicals were when we went over with our medical staff in our meeting, so that made us feel even more confident about kind of where he’s at and just see where it goes.”
But as soon as Hooker is cleared to practice, the NFL’s drama machine will whir to life. By the time he suits up for a game as Jared Goff’s backup, the drama level will jump from “Beverly Hills 90210” Peach Pit shenanigans to the fratricidal undertones in “Succession” in roughly the time it takes Goff to throw one interception.
OK, that’s a bit far-fetched. We’re all reasonable people here, right? Sure we are. That’s why fans won’t call for Hooker to take over after Goff throws his first pick. But they won’t wait until Goff throws his third pick, either.
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It’s been a really long time in Detroit since we’ve had a quarterback controversy or even a competition. You have to go all the way back to 2009, when Daunte Culpepper took on rookie Matthew Stafford. I still remember Culpepper sulking on the bench in pregame warmups before the Thanksgiving game when an injured Stafford got the start — and then threw four picks.
Stafford not only won the job that season, but he also locked up a 12-year Ford Family Scholarship that ensured the team wouldn’t even dream of drafting a potential successor. That led to the Lions taking a hard pass over the years on Day 2 studs like Russell Wilson and Jalen Hurts.
That’s how much NFL teams hate drama, especially at such a pivotal position. I’m sure Holmes and coach Dan Campbell hope Goff starts the season where he left off, playing at a Pro Bowl level. That would mean the Lions wouldn’t have to rush Hooker onto the field and can essentially redshirt him.
But we have to acknowledge a few things that make Hooker unique. One is that Holmes had enough guts and conviction to draft him so high, knowing full well what that could mean if something crazy, outlandish and totally unrealistic happens and the Lions start 1-6 this season. If it does, jobs will be on the line and it could very well lead to people screaming for Goff to be benched. For his willingness to take that chance, Holmes deserves credit for not drafting scared, like his recent predecessors.
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The second factor in Hooker’s unique situation is that Holmes invested some reasonably high draft capital to acquire him, and one assumes offensive coordinator Ben Johnson — the third-most indispensable employee among the Lions’ brass — had a strong say in drafting him. Johnson likely has a plan for how he plans to use Hooker, and an OC with a plan is like a highly paid athlete with a gambling app on his phone: He isn’t not going to use it.
A third factor is Hooker’s style of play. The guy is simply electric. He has a strong, accurate arm and feet like lightning. He’s not only exciting, but he and quarterbacks like him are the obvious future of the NFL. Watching him or Hurts or Josh Allen of Justin Fields makes it feel like we’re watching the pocket-passer era the way we watched basketball before the jump shot.
Another factor is Goff, the quintessence of the unexciting, cement-footed pocket passer. I like Goff and I respect the way he’s handled himself through all his adversity. He has earned his place. But his emotional resonance among Lions fans ranks somewhere between Stoney Case and Jon Kitna, and longtime Lions fans probably still own more No. 16 jerseys with Titus Young or Jace Billingsley’s names on them.
Oh, and there’s one more factor. It’s Hooker, himself. Physically, he isn’t ready. Emotionally? Competitively? Well, judge for yourself.
“I just take it day by day. And whenever I’m ready to rock and roll,” he said, “that’s going to be a sight to see.”
Let the quarterback controversy begin. It’s about time.
Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.