Hooper returned from missing two games and played very well
Tuesday is game rewatch day. Every week I settle in and spend undivided attention on watching both the condensed version of the game and the All-22 coach’s tape. Normally my gleanings are broader, but this week I opted to focus on one particular player: Austin Hooper.
The Browns tight end made his return from missing two games after a bout with appendicitis in the Week 10 win over Houston. Hooper jumped out right away on the very first drive for his blocking, and I decided to delve further into his return game.
Interestingly, I looked at his Pro Football Focus grade for the game. Hooper earned just a 53.8 offensive score, poor for a starter. His run block grade was even lower. It went directly contrary to what I saw on the first drive, so I opted to do my own grade for Hooper.
My grading scale is simple. On a rep where the player successfully executes his assigned task, I give a plus. On plays where he fails, he gets a minus. On plays where he goes above and beyond what is expected — a pancake block or a difficult catch as examples — I’ll give two plusses. A blown pass protection assignment or an earned penalty draws two minuses.
Hooper came out of the gate on fire. He earned four plusses and zero minuses on the Browns’ opening drive, all on run blocks. In addition, he was open for a potential TD pass on the final first-down rep but QB Baker Mayfield opted for an easier checkdown throw in the high winds. It also appeared that the play ruined by JC Tretter’s bad snap to Mayfield was designed to hit Hooper in the right flat for another potential TD; he was uncovered as he motioned out.
Not much happened on the second drive. Hooper was a little slow to release from a chip on J.J. Watt on third down before getting out into a route, but not enough to earn a minus. He did not play on the next Browns drive, ceding reps to David Njoku.
The next drive for the Browns is the final one of the first half, the one coming after the Texans punted out of field goal formation.
First play: Hooper puts Watt on the ground on an inside block, creating a hole. It’s not a pancake block but it’s wildly effective. It/s not Hooper’s fault fellow TE Harrison Bryant failed on his assignment. Plus 1.
Second play: Hooper releases across the formation and makes a good catch for a first down. Nice route, all hands on the catch on a good-not-great throw from Mayfield out of his own end zone on a designed rollout. Plus 1.
Third play: Lined up inline with Watt over his outside shoulder, Hooper fires out and picks off safety Justin Reid on a run to his side. Watt nearly made a play on Kareem Hunt in the backfield, but that wasn’t Hooper’s assignment in the zone-block scheme, it was LT Jedrick Wills who missed. Hunt made a nice cut and still gained nine yards. Plus 1.
Fourth play: Lined up adjacent to RT Jack Conklin, Hooper again has Watt over his outside shoulder. This time it’s all on Hooper when Watt quickly discards him with a nice yank/over move. Hunt gets buried in the backfield. That’s a minus-2 for Hooper.
Fifth play: Out of a bunch formation, Hooper runs an underneath route and gets (egregiously) held by FS Lonnie Johnson. Mayfield completes a pass over his head to Rashard Higgins on a deeper crossing route.
Hooper has nothing of consequence to do on the next four plays as the Browns are in hurry-up mode. The next play where he does something is the Mayfield errant pass to Hunt up the left sideline. Hooper, playing H-back, nicely shields off his man in pass protect on the rollout that appears at first to be a designed run for Mayfield to grab extra yards for a possible field goal attempt. The way Hooper sells the run block convinces the Texans defender (Johnson again) to ignore Hunt. That’s a plus in my book; Johnson is directly reading Hooper, not Hunt.
He doesn’t figure in the final play, where Mayfield just misses Landry open down the right sideline for what could have been a TD. It’s a better throw on review than it looked to be in real-time in seeing the defender underneath the route. Landry losing his shoe as he is about to jump for it didn’t help, either.
Halftime: Hooper has earned eight plusses and two minuses (on the same play)
The first Browns drive of the second half sees Hooper earn two plusses and a minus in run blocking and an extra plus in blocking downfield on a pass play. He did get away with a probable hold on another play.
Cleveland’s second possession in the third quarter sees Hooper earn two plusses on run blocks and a minus-2 for a legit holding penalty. I’ll tack on another minus for being a count late to move after the snap on a play that resulted in pass interference on Vernon Hargeaves. I’d like to give Hooper a plus for his work on Chubb’s TD run but truthfully it was inconsequential, so I held off.
Hooper split the next drive with Njoku, departing after Mayfield missed him on a pass attempt under pressure. On his first rep back, Hooper earned a plus for sealing off Watt on a Hunt run. He earned a minus with a loss against Watt in a 3-TE set.
The Browns’ final drive is up next. After doing little on the first few snaps, it’s Hooper who springs Hunt for a huge gain with an excellent seal block on OLB Whitney Mercilus. It gives Hunt a huge crease off left tackle, the RB makes the first tackler (Zach Cunningham) miss and gains 19 on 3rd-and-1 leading into the two-minute warning. Great play by Hooper. He earns another plus on Hunt’s final run even though his blocking mark makes the tackle; Hunt literally ran right into him despite Hooper executing a nice block.
Then came Chubb’s 59-yard game-sealing burst. Hooper actually gets submarine-tackled on the play by ex-Browns safety Eric Murray, who elects to tackle the blocker instead of the guy with the ball.
Second half tally: Eight plusses, five minuses including the penalty that counts as minus-2
Total: 16 plusses, seven minuses. And the context of playing over 80 percent of his snaps with J.J. Watt as his assignment makes it even more impressive.
