Austin Hooper

Hooper signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Titans after being released by the Browns in the offseason. He finds himself in a situation analogous to the one he just left, sitting atop the tight end depth chart in a run-first offense helmed by a capable but far from elite quarterback. Hooper totaled 780 yards and seven touchdowns in two seasons in Cleveland, comparable to the 787 yards and six touchdowns he racked up for the Falcons in only 13 games in 2019. At 6- 4, 255, Hooper is not an athletic marvel like some of the league’s top tight ends (4.72 40, 33- inch vertical), but he has a large wingspan and big hands to win contested catches. While Hooper might not return to his Pro Bowl form from the Atlanta days, he has an easier path to production than he did with the Browns, with blocking tight end Geoff Swaim as the No. 2 after fighting David Njoku for snaps in Cleveland. The Titans also traded wide receiver A.J. Brown to Philadelphia, leaving Robert Woods (coming off a torn ACL) and rookie first-round WR pick Treylon Burks as Hooper’s biggest competition for targets.

Hooper cashed in on his 2019 breakout in Atlanta, signing a four-year, $42 million contract last offseason with the Browns. He played the same number of games and only 40 fewer snaps his first season in Cleveland, but the switch from a pass-first offense to a run-first offense left him with 187 fewer routes and 27 fewer targets. Hooper was actually targeted on a higher percentage of his routes in 2020 than in 2019, but he fell from 8.1 YPT to 6.2, despite dropping only two passes and having nearly the same average depth of target (6.5, 6.4) both seasons. While it's fair to expect an efficiency rebound of some degree in Hooper's second season working with QB Baker Mayfield and coach Kevin Stefanski, the problem of target volume is still a big one, especially if TEs Harrison Bryant and David Njoku both remain on the roster and WR Odell Beckham returns healthy from ACL surgery.

Hooper's 2019 explosion in Atlanta set the stage for a record-setting contract from the Browns, establishing a top of the market for tight ends with a $10.5 million average annual value and $18.5 million guaranteed. While Hooper, who runs a 4.72 40, is no athletic match for the likes of George Kittle and Travis Kelce, he should be a useful target on short and intermediate passes for Baker Mayfield. The No. 1 overall pick is hoping to rebound from a sophomore slump, surrounded by a new coaching staff in an offense loaded with name-brand weapons. The 25-year-old Hooper will make the team better, but we can't ignore how his 2019 production largely occurred when the Falcons were in catch-up mode, often against defenses focused on mitigating Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley. Hooper produced 62 percent of his yardage and five of his six TDs after halftime, and he averaged 79.6 yards and 9.9 YPT in seven losses, compared to 38.3 yards and 5.6 YPT in six wins (he also missed three games with an MCL sprain). Even amidst a breakout season, only two of Hooper's 75 receptions came on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield. In Cleveland, the presence of Odell Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt and fellow tight end David Njoku will make it difficult for opponents to focus on Hooper, potentially helping his efficiency but also leaving him as a long shot to match last year's 7.5 targets per game. The question now is whether Hooper can do more with less.

Improvement isn't always linear with fantasy commodities, but Hooper had steady improvement in Season 3, bumping his catch rate, receptions and touchdowns to career highs while tying for seventh in TE targets. The key to getting the plausible upside of Hooper is grasping when the Falcons use him. He was tied for third in inside-the-10 targets at the position, and only Travis Kelce had more looks inside the 5-yard line. Hooper also had a pair of two-point conversions (one in the playoffs); while they're only a deuce on the scoreboard, they could point to more touchdown upside in subsequent seasons. The Falcons certainly have a gaggle of imposing downfield weapons in their passing game, but perhaps Hooper will remain a primary option when space gets tight around the goal line. Add it all up and Hooper makes sense for fantasy owners who want to be budget-conscious at tight end without going completely into a punt formation.

Hooper had some things moving in the right direction last year - more games, more starts, more snaps and more targets. His YPC dropped almost four yards, despite a glorious 88-yard catch-and-run touchdown against the Bears in Week 1. Hooper only scored twice the rest of the season and didn't have another reception longer than 24 yards or a game with more than 50 yards. After finishing with nine straight outings (including playoffs) catching three or fewer passes for no more than 38 yards, Hooper's case for a Year 3 breakout took a hit when the Falcons drafted WR Calvin Ridley in Round 1. The Falcons also didn't consider Hooper much in the playoffs, giving him just six targets in two games (4-18-0). That sounds like someone who should be forced to play his way onto our rosters in September, not someone we should proactively draft in August.

The Falcons brought Hooper along at a gradual pace during his rookie year as he only had three games with more than three targets. But there were occasional highlights -- an 84-yard spike at Oakland, a snappy touchdown at Tampa Bay on national television and a score in the Super Bowl. With Jacob Tamme not expected back, Hooper likely will enter Week 1 as the starter, or at least as the top pass catcher at TE. Stanford has produced a number of NFL starting tight ends in recent years, with Hooper another one to feel good about. He checks the pedigree box -- a third-round pick in 2016 -- and he doesn't turn 23 until late October. Atlanta's offense is built around matchups and spreading the ball around, but Hooper has plenty of room for growth in his second season. He belongs on everyone's potential-breakout list.

Hooper was selected by the Falcons in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft, and the team hopes he can help bolster a position that's been a point of weakness since Tony Gonzalez retired. He comes into a clustered-yet-unimpressive situation alongside Jacob Tamme and Levine Toilolo, who combined for just 66 receptions, 701 yards and one touchdown in 2015. The Falcons clearly have plans for Hooper if they were willing to take a chance on him in the third round, but it seems like they'll roll with Tamme at the beginning of the season. Toilolo is more of a blocking tight end, so Hooper could see some work in clear passing situations should they opt for some double-tight end sets.