Hooker (knee) said Monday that he no longer requires the assistance of crutches and expects to be ready to resume running by late March, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
The 25-year-old Hooker is making the jump to the NFL after he had his sixth season of college football cut short due to an ACL tear of his left knee suffered Nov. 19. Before sustaining the knee injury and undergoing surgery Dec. 13, Hooker was in the midst of a brilliant season at Tennessee and ultimately finished the campaign with a 69.6 completion rate for 9.5 yards per attempt, 27 touchdowns and two interceptions to go with 430 yards and five scores on the ground over his 11 games. Despite his exceptional production, Hooker's advanced age for a college player as well as his ongoing recovery from surgery removes him from the ranks of the top quarterback prospects of this year's draft class, but he at least looks like he'll be on pace to be near 100 percent health before NFL training camps commence in late July.
