Tennessee Titans: Amani Hooker can become a household name in 2021
The Tennessee Titans have one of the NFL’s best-kept secrets in safety Amani Hooker, who can become a household name in the 2021 season.
The NFL’s annual tradition of undervaluing Iowa Hawkeyes defensive backs prospects is almost criminal at this point. Okay, maybe annual is going a bit too far, but the league — at least, in recent years — has not properly evaluated some of Iowa’s top defensive backs coming out in the NFL Draft. The latest example of that is Tennessee Titans defensive back Amani Hooker.
The Titans picked Hooker in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, despite the best efforts from Pro Football Focus to get him selected much higher.
https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1131398350975184896
At 5-foot-11, 210 pounds, Hooker is not built like your typical “slot” defender in the NFL. His 4.48 in the 40-yard dash and 6.81 three-cone drill show that Hooker has a combination of outstanding size, speed, and agility to play the position at the next level.
So what gives?
He has size, athleticism, and he had production at Iowa. Why would a player like that last until the fourth round?
Your guess is as good as anyone else’s.
Tennessee Titans: Amani Hooker ready for big role
Hooker played immediately as a rookie for the Titans, 380 snaps on special teams and 332 on defense. His inclusion in the defensive game plan for the Titans was relatively modest, but he saw a significant boost in snaps (and production) in 2020.
He played a key role on special teams again in 2020 (323 snaps) but had a substantially increased role on defense with 468 snaps (42 percent).
Along with that increased snap count came more big-time plays from the former Hawkeye defender who had six interceptions in his final two seasons with the Hawkeyes.
In 2020 for the Tennessee Titans, Hooker racked up 51 total tackles, eight pass breakups, and four interceptions. Among the quarterbacks Hooker picked off were Deshaun Watson, Ben Roethlisberger, and reigning (at the time) league MVP Lamar Jackson.
What Hooker did in 2020 could be classified as a “breakout” performance. With Kenny Vaccaro now gone along with his 871 snaps, the road is officially paved for Hooker to have a starter role in the Tennessee Titans’ defense and become a household name.
Whether he’s playing a slot role, box safety role, or whatever the Tennessee Titans ask him to do, it’s possible that Hooker’s snap counts could double for the 2021 season and that should be enough for him to become much more recognized than he currently is.
He just turned 23 this offseason, and the sky is the limit at this point.