Hendon Hooker had a lot of ups and downs during the Detroit Lions’ OTAs, as was to be anticipated. Every time he displayed a glimpse of his undeveloped skill, he made mistakes with precision or kept the ball too long and took a “sack.” It is anticipated that he will arrive to training camp more at ease, having completed repetitions he had never done before.

The Detroit Free Press’s Dave Birkett wrote on the Lions’ extremely basic offseason work with Hooker.

For Hooker to lose the No. 2 slot on the depth chart to Nate Sudfeld, he would need to suffer an injury or perform poorly in camp. Although Sudfeld is valuable to the Lions’ quarterback room, the team would be in serious difficulty if Jared Goff were to suffer an injury and had to play.

The Lions can’t afford to lose any of their important players to injury this season. Given how unheard of Hooker is and how little regular season action Sudfeld has ever had, Goff is most likely ranked #1 on the list.

Thus, in general, and in the event that Hooker does not fully assume the backup position throughout training camp, the Lions may find themselves in need of a backup quarterback.

NFL quarterback who seems to be an odd man out could improve the backup situation for the Lions

Looked at six “quietly concerning” backup quarterback scenarios throughout the league, CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin has offered suggestions for improvement. Of course, the Lions are on the list.

The suggested action to deal with the Lions’ circumstances? Give Taylor Heinicke a trade.

Despite having a third-round pedigree, Hooder is still learning in the No. 2 role at the age of 26, having just returned from a “redshirt” season in which he had torn his ACL. Heinicke, who has started 28 games in the past three years and shown enough bravery as a daring passer to win over a number of fan bases, is a different animal. Dan Campbell would undoubtedly give him the thumbs up for his never-say-die attitude, but his position with the Atlanta Falcons is less clear now that Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. have both been added.”

When Desmond Ridder was benched by the Falcons last season, Heinicke started four games. During the course of the previous two seasons with Washington, he started 24 games, including 15 starts and four game-winning drives in 2021.

Heinicke embodies the quintessential backup quarterback role; he is a well-versed player with mediocre overall stats in his playing career. However, if it comes down to it, the Lions are one team that might really prefer to have him as their backup. With his ranking as the third-best quarterback in Atlanta, he seems like a tradeable asset.

At the very least, Heinicke’s playing history makes it evident what a quarterback he is and isn’t. The fact that Sudfeld has barely had to play or played at all indicates how little the Lions really know about Hooker. Heinicke appears to be a plausible backup option for Goff in the event that everything else (Hooker) fails.