Amani Hooker - 2019 NFL Draft Scouting Report

This is the scouting report I was most looking forward to writing this year. I was hoping I could wait another year to write it, but I certainly can't fault a great player for leaving early. It was truly a pleasure watching Amani Hooker play for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and he got better and better every year. I admit I have black and gold tinted glasses, and even though I never specifically watched him during a game, it was impossible for me not to notice his contributions. But now, I am willing to take a closer look at the Hooker to see the strengths and look for weaknesses that could hurt him at the next level. I looked at his games from 2018 against Mississippi State, Iowa State, and Maryland with a sprinkling of 2017 Ohio State for good measure.

Aw man, who am I kidding? Let's just go to the first play of the game against Ohio State.

This wasn't just to show something painful for Buckeye fans as I did want to display the way he was able to make plays from the traditional safety position as he played a less traditional role this past year. Here, Hooker plays a shallow zone and just does a great job of reading the quarterback's eyes and breaking downhill for the pick-six. JT Barrett actually does a nice job of working left to right here. But Hooker knows he can't do anything on the left, the middle is well covered, so he picks the dig route to make a break on, and he picks right. It looks like Hooker knows where this ball is going before Barrett does.

Hooker is an interesting prospect as he spent his first two years and part of his final year in a traditional safety role before mostly transitioning to a hybrid role where he was more of a nickel back/linebacker. Here's another nice play from Hooker in a traditional safety role.

Even without the benefit of having a bright yellow cone of vision, it's easy to see Hooker looking into the backfield to read the quarterback's eyes. He does this while staying over the top of the route, so he is seeing the quarterback prepare his release as the receiver breaks to the outside, and he cuts off the route to make the interception.

Here is an example of Hooker playing the run.

He diagnoses the play and sprints to fill the hole. David Montgomery is one of the top running backs in the draft, so he did manage to spin out of the tackle, but his momentum was stopped by Hooker, and he wasn't able to regain control and was quickly wrapped up.

This is a really nice play by Hooker making quick decisions.

On this play, Hooker has the responsibility of the short routes while the cornerback is going to handle anything deep. He sees the slot receiver running down field, and the quarterback thinks that it will carry Hooker with him. Instead, Hooker lets that man go and quickly breaks to the outside to the wide receiver to tackle him just after he makes the catch for a short gain. It's a quick diagnosis that makes this play work as if he's a second slower, the receiver is creating yards after the catch for a likely first down.

A receiver blocking Hooker is not a recipe for success.

That is a massive whiff by the receiver, and Hooker is able to finish off the play because of it.

This was something I consistently saw in games as wide receivers were outclassed when trying to block Hooker on quick screens.

it is clear Hooker is diagnosing the play as he is getting blocked, and then he shucks the receiver and does an impressive job of taking out the tight end's right leg to bring him down for a short gain.

Here is another example of him reading the quarterback while dropping down in a zone and making a quick break on the ball.

On this play, he has the option to carry the inside breaking route but sees the Iowa State quarterback looking to his left, so he makes a hard break to the outside, and even though he can't get a hand on it, he got close enough to distract the receiver enough for him to not catch the ball.

I had watched three games, but I wanted a little more. Did I get obsessed with watching Hooker and just go to a highlight video? Yes, admittedly, I did. But it reminded me of this play which I didn't even comprehend its greatness until seeing it on this video.

Hooker covers THREE guys on this play, just by reading the quarterback's eyes. First, he carries the slot receiver coming up the seam before breaking inside on the next receiver's short crossing route where the linebacker picks him up, and then Hooker drifts back to the outside receiver who tries to run into open space, but Hooker again reads the quarterback's eyes, finds the receiver, looks back to the quarterback, and makes the leaping interception. If you're a scout trying to convince your team to draft Hooker, this is the play you show them.

Here's the thing with safeties. They are damn near impossible to evaluate off of television tape. They are barely on screen and immediately offscreen at the snap, so it's tough to show the ins and outs of great safety play. That being said, I have watched Amani Hooker for years. I've seen the minutiae of what most people would call meaningless replays and how the dude is ALWAYS around the ball. For an NFL comparison, I would say he reminds me of Tyrann Mathieu. I don't expect him to test off the charts, but he should do well, and the most important thing is that the guy just makes plays. He has incredible football instincts that you simply can't teach, and there was a reason that Big Ten coaches named him the defensive back of the year despite lining up most of the year in a non-traditional secondary role. He can play a traditional safety role or play as your nickel back, but it's easy to find a way to utilize a guy like Amani Hooker. His versatility and ability to read and react would make him an asset to any defense. As a Hawkeye fan, I'm certainly going to miss him.

Previous Scouting Reports:
Noah Fant - Iowa Hawkeyes - Tight End
Dwayne Haskins - Ohio State Buckeyes - Quarterback
TJ Hockenson - Iowa Hawkeyes Tight End
Josh Jacobs - Alabama Crimson Tide - Running Back
Daniel Jones - Duke blue Devils - Quarterback