Falcons: Could Malik Hooker be worth a contract?

Plenty of names stand out in the now legendary 2017 draft that the Falcons whiffed on. One of my favorite picks in that entire class at the time was selected 15th overall, Malik Hooker. The Ohio State product looked like a can’t miss prospect coming out of college that would immediately become a plug and play starter for a Colts team that was very close to a finished product. Unfortunately, Hooker never became a name like Alvin Kamara or Patrick Mahomes that you think of when you look back at that 2017 class, and injuries have played a big role in that.

Hooker had tremendous ball skills and instincts coming out of college. He led the entire Big Ten in interceptions in 2016, and scouts raved about how incredible his range was as a high safety. A lot of that holds true today; the problems start and end with his body.

Hooker has played in a grand total of 36 games over the past four seasons. After his rookie year, when he sniped three interceptions and broke up four passes in seven games, Colts fans were still very optimistic that he would be an impact player. Hooker wasn’t bad in 2018 or 2019, but he missed five games over those two seasons. Going into 2020, the Colts were hoping that Hooker would play a full slate and make one last playoff push with Philip Rivers. He tore his achilles in Week 2.

Hooker may just be one of those players that never shakes the injury bug, but when he plays, he’s typically fantastic. With plenty of cap space to be created by restructuring, and the salary cap being higher than originally expected, Hooker is a very interesting option on a cheap deal if Atlanta moves on from Ricardo Allen and Damontae Kazee. PFF only projects his next contract to be for one year, $2 million. I like this safety class in the draft, and there are premium high safeties on the market like Anthony Harris and Justin Simmons, but Hooker could be a valuable lottery ticket if he stays healthy.

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