Have the Lions identified their quarterback of the future?

The Detroit Lions offense was explosive under Jared Goff last season, but they apparently are hoping they have found another quarterback for the future.

The Lions traded down twice on Friday night and ended up with the No. 68 overall pick. They used that selection on former Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker.

Hooker is 25 years old and coming off a torn ACL, but he really emerged after transferring from Virginia Tech to Tennessee.

In two seasons with the Volunteers, Hooker passed for 58 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He also rushed for 1,046 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell said in March that the team was open to drafting a quarterback in the right spot, so it’s not too surprising to see them grab Hooker in the third round.

Goff is under contract for the next two seasons but does not have any money guaranteed for 2024. If Hooker somehow turns out to be a monster and that’s clear after one year, the Lions could play him in 2024 and cut Goff. But Goff also has a reasonable $30.9 million cap hit in 2023 and $31.6 million cap hit in 2024, so there isn’t necessarily any urgency to part ways with him.

If Goff plays as well in 2023 as he did in 2022, Detroit will probably stick with him and hope to see if their record improves from 9-8, giving Hooker time to develop.