Going into the preseason Week 3 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions quarterback Nate Sudfeld appeared to still be in the lead in the backup competition with fellow signal-caller Hendon Hooker after head coach Dan Campbell said the veteran had the "upper hand" in the battle.
Hooker got the start in the exhibition finale and played into the fourth quarter before giving way to Jake Fromm. Meanwhile, Sudfeld did not see a single snap in the contest, which might mean he's already locked into the backup job.
Things started off terrible for Hooker. He was sacked five times in the first half alone, and while the Lions' pass protection wasn't great, he was clearly holding on to the ball for too long in some instances. He also struggled with accuracy on some throws, threw a pick and lost a fumble.
After going fumble, punt, punt, punt in his first four series, Hooker turned his day around after that and looked more like what we saw over the first two preseason games. He led the Lions on a pair of touchdown drives to close out the opening half, and added another in the fourth quarter.
Hooker bounced back nicely and finished the game after completing 12-of-20 passes for 114 yards, with one touchdown to one interception. He also showed off his impressive athleticism plenty, carrying the ball 10 times for 93 yards.
The interception came on a pass over the middle to wide receiver Isaiah Williams in the second half. The ball was a bit out of reach for Williams to snag and the deflected pass landed in the arms of former Lions cornerback Cameron Sutton.
Hooker should've had another scoring drive, but kicker Jake Bates missed a chip-shot 30-yard field goal.
All in all, Hooker's performance was a microcosm of how his offseason has gone. He has no doubt shown promise but still looks like a raw player who will need more time to develop before he can be trusted in a regular season game.
Based on the fact that the Lions didn't play Sudfeld at all, Hooker likely didn't do enough this offseason to secure the backup job behind Jared Goff, leaving Sudfeld as the QB2 going into the 2024 season. We'll know for sure when the Lions make their final cuts on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
