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- Mar 19, 2019
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Hooker ranks as Farrar’s third free safety on the list behind Kevin Byard of the Tennessee Titans (No. 1 overall safety) and the Chicago Bears’ Eddie Jackson (No. 2 safety).
While we saw Hooker succeed with some eye-grabbing stats in 2017, he succeeded as more of a silent assassin as an NFL sophomore in 2018, as Farrar pointed out that quarterbacks simply did not want to test him.
Hooker allowed just 57.1 percent of the passes thrown his way, and many of the rest he either broke up or snatched away for an interception. As a defense, the Colts allowed the second-fewest pass plays of 40-plus yards and the fifth-fewest of 20-plus yards, and Hooker’s presence was a huge part of that.
What Hooker has been able to accomplish in his first two seasons is outstanding considering what he has had to deal with.
Coming into the league as a rookie in 2017, he spent the offseason rehabbing from hip and hernia surgeries. He was brought along slowly and then entered the starting lineup in Week 2 of the regular season. In Week 7, disaster struck with the ACL injury.
Rehabbing throughout the 2018 offseason and into training camp, Hooker was able to make it back in time for the regular season, but the mental hurdle of overcoming a serious injury as well as how long it takes physically to be yourself again took some time.
Hooker said that he wasn’t really confident in his knee until about Week 6. After also dealing with a couple other minor injuries during the rest of the season, he felt there was still more there to be done.
Through two years in the NFL, Hooker has never really been healthy — until now.
This offseason is the first time he’s been able to physically participate in the offseason program, OTAs and minicamp, and he’s loving it.
“Right now I feel just as good as I did in college going into an offseason,” Hooker told reporters last week. “So there is nothing that I can complain about. I’m moving great, feeling great. Weight wise and everything, I am the best I have been since I have been here.
“I feel like coming in my rookie year I did a great job of showing the type of player I can be before the injury happened. Last year was a little bit more quiet,” Hooker said while acknowledging he’s had success in a couple of different ways. “This year, I feel like this is the year where I’m going to be the player the Colts brought me here to be.”
The player that the Colts brought him there to be is someone who many said could be one of the league’s truly elite, ballhawking defenders. Hooker brings a brand of playmaking that is difficult to find and can’t be taught. Safeties like him are invaluable to a team down the stretch.
With a healthy offseason under his belt, there’s no telling what Hooker might accomplish in 2019.