Falcons should consider Hooker as possible pick

Who remembers Mr. Drysdale from the “Beverly Hillbillies” from back in the day? He had a busy-body secretary — Miss Hathaway if memory serves — who was always commanded to “Take a letter,” which in retrospect makes you wonder how much wasted money and time we spent in corporate America back in the day.

Anyway, if I had a secretary I’d need them to take an email to the Atlanta Falcons. Dear fellow Falcons lovers,

Some of us have been infected with a loyalty to this franchise through years of anguish.

We were there, watching through the tears of a preteen when Danny White and the Cowboys broke our hearts in the playoffs. We were there with understanding as your predecessors gave away Brett Favre.

We were there for the Deion Sanders experience, when we wasted the prime years of Prime Time. We were there for the highs and lows of the Mike Vick years. And the Super Bowl run that Eugene Robinson derailed before it ever got started and the Super Bowl run that Tom Brady derailed before it ever could get finished.

You are paid to be there; we have paid our dues for the right to be here. So hear me out. This is a critical offseason. You have money, close to $70 million in cap space, the second-most in the NFL heading into next year. You have some interesting pieces. You have a coaching staff that got this team to play hard despite being outmanned by almost every opponent. The ingredients are there. Now is the time for leadership. And savvy.

As you are well aware, the combine is this week. Do not be tempted by any of the flash first-round QBs. Sure if Bryce Young or CJ Stroud fall to the eighth pick, sprint to the podium, turn the card in and ignore everything else in this email. And yes, picking at eight is a home-run-or-whiff deal for this organization. No. 8 produced Pro Bowlers Bob Whitfield and DeAngelo Hall back in the day. It also produced alltime busts Jamaal Anderson (pass rusher from Arkansas, not Dirty-Bird dancing running back from Utah) and current XFLer Vic Beasley.

Resisting the temptation of reaching at eight for a QB this year of all years is paramount. Rather than taking the flier that is Anthony Richardson or Will Levis or goodness knows who else, follow these steps:

1. First, be forthright with Desmond Ridder. Tell him he’s QB1 — he is and should have been before Halloween last season rather than right before Christmas — but share this plan with him.

2. Kick the tires on Carson Wentz, who was released by the Commanders and is just a handful of years from being an MVP candidate for a Super Bowl team before injuries derailed his career arc. And if Arthur Smith can get the best out of Ryan Tannehill, Carson Wentz is a fine back-up candidate.

3. Draft Hendon Hooker with your first pick of Day 2. Yes, there are a slew of depth needs across a defense that was more effort than talent last year. But Hooker is a lot like Jalen Hurts, with not as much quickness but a bigger arm. Could he be a product of Josh Heupel’s system? Of course. That happens all the time. But like Hurts, he’s a dynamic presence in the locker room in all the right ways. He navigated the transfer portal with extreme grace. He delivered on the biggest of stages and made the most of a second chance. He’s adapted to multiple offensive sets. Yes, it would be tempting to see what Aaron Rodgers could cost. Yes, it would ‘win the offseason’ to land Lamar Jackson. Yes, first-round QBs until you find a franchise QB is a pattern that will become commonplace in future drafts.

But Rodgers does not want to be in Atlanta. Jackson wants a quarter of a billion guaranteed which is entirely too steep for a QB who played 60% of his team’s games the last two years and needs to run — often — to be worth that price tag. And, after Stroud and Young, here’s a vote that Hooker’s the next best QB in this class.

Plus consider the downside: If all of that fails, you are not on the hook for anything long-term or cap-crunching, and then you can truly tank for the 2024 draft and a little cat named Caleb Williams.

Thanks for your time.

Falcons Fans.

P.S. Got any of those old ‘Gritz Blitz’ T-shirts lying around anywhere in Flowery Branch?