Like any football player, all it took was a touchdown for people to start recognizing Malik Hooker. Only thing is, he plays defense.
“I would probably say after the second game of the season, Tulsa, when I had the pick-six,” Ohio State's star safety said Tuesday after practice. “A lot of people started recognizing me and saying ‘What’s up’ and stuff like that.
“It was walking to class, in class, just walking around, whatever. Just a lot of people greeting me or telling me congratulations, good game and stuff like that.”
Points and pick-sixes bring headlines and in this age, social media attention—Hooker said he is up to more than 12,000 followers on Twitter and 28,000 more on Instagram since the season began. As his online fame grew, so did his standing with NFL scouts and draft analysts. So even though the 2016 season is his first as a starter in Columbus, the redshirt sophomore's six interceptions and three pick-sixes are going to be more than enough to push him out the door as a projected first round pick, right?
“As of right now, I’m coming back,” Hooker said. “Right now I’m really not thinking about anything like that. As of right now, I’m definitely coming back next year.”
What?
“right now I’m not really paying no mind or nothing like that. I’m still worried about trying to win a national title here and then after the season, whatever happens, happens.”– Malik Hooker
Hooker reiterated after practice on Tuesday what he told Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch on Nov. 28—that he is "100 percent sure" he will return to Ohio State in 2017. The key phrase in his quote is "right now," as he, like all other underclassmen in college football, has until Jan. 16 to decide if he will turn pro.
Everything about Hooker's 2016 season screams that there is no reason for him to be at Ohio State next season. He is going to have to realize that sooner than he might think.
“Maybe after the season I’ll sit down and talk with my parents and see where things go from there but as of right now, yes, I’m coming back for next season,” Hooker said.
Ohio State's season could end New Year's Eve in Phoenix with a loss to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl as part of the College Football Playoff. A victory against the Tigers means the Buckeyes get to play either Washington or Alabama for the national title on Jan. 9 in Tampa. Once that game is over—the very latest Ohio State's season could end—Hooker and some of his other underclassmen teammates will have a week to decide on their futures.
Urban Meyer and Alabama head coach Nick Saban have said in the past the draft calendar needs reset to give players more time to make what is to date the biggest decision in their life. Change is likely coming since the Playoff pushes the calendar even further back than the old BCS system and the NFL Draft isn't held until the end of April. Meyer said last year he asked those players on the fence about leaving (thus, not Joey Bosa or Ezekiel Elliott) to wait until the season ended before talking to their head coach about it. A conversation like that with Hooker has surely already taken place.
But in Hooker's case, he'd be a fool not to go. CBS Sports draft analyst Dane Brugler has him going 11th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft in his latest mock, the top-rated safety in this year's draft class. It is crazy how quickly Hooker's legend has grown in Columbus and across the country.
“There’d just a lot that would have to play a role into whether I stay or I leave,” Hooker said.
Hooker doesn't want to bring attention to his team that deviates from the fact it has a chance to play for a national championship. He might really enjoy being in college (who doesn't?). He said the reason he decided to come out and tell the world he plans to return is so he wouldn't be a distraction during bowl prep—“I feel like I’m not giving my full effort into the program if I focus on after the season and going into the draft,” he said.
That is completely commendable and Hooker is a quality kid, always quick to offer praise to his teammates or coaches for most everything he does on the field. Dollar signs and the fact the football window for any player is extremely short in the grand scheme of things, however, makes it hard to believe he will be back in 2017. An injury could mean the loss of millions of dollars.
For perspective, the Oakland Raiders made Karl Joseph the 14th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He now has a four-year, $11.4 million contract fully guaranteed with a $6.8 million signing bonus. Hooker could be line for similar money should he leave Ohio State.
“Most football players, they fail to realize at one point in your life you’re not going to play football no more and people aren’t going to recognize you,” Hooker said. “I feel like, for football players, it’s humbling and you just gotta take it in because it’s not always going to be there.”
Neither is his ability to play at a high level.
Hooker is exceptional when the ball is in the air, with great closing speed and anticipation. He still has areas to improve, though—Brugler notes in his evaluation of the safety that sometimes Hooker has poor spacing in coverage and filling gaps in the running game.
“Far from a finished product from a mental standpoint,” Brugler wrote.
That is understandable. Hooker didn't really focus on football until his sophomore and junior year of high school, instead giving his attention to basketball, his first love.
But that can be taught at the next level and it is clear he already has grown so much this season from start the finish. And first round NFL money is first round NFL money.
And it is much, much different than being noticed on campus on the way to class at Ohio State.
“As I said, right now I’m not really paying no mind or nothing like that,” Hooker said. “I’m still worried about trying to win a national title here and then after the season, whatever happens, happens.”
