Austin Hooper, TE, Atlanta Falcons
Remember, part of the consideration here is value. Will it be worth paying what some of these players are going to command on the open market, given some of the risk factors or what they bring to the table on the field?
A driver for this discussion is perhaps this piece from Tom Pelissero from NFL.com. In it, Pelissero argues that Hooper might command a deal upwards of $10 million per year in free agency. This is backed up by the folks over at Sportrac, who estimate that Hooper could see a contract with an average annual value of $9.9 million dollars, based on recent deals given to Travis Kelce, Jordan Reed, Zach Ertz and Trey Burton.
But is Hooper worth that? Pure economics might dictate that he is. Given the supply and demand at the position (as outlined previously when discussing Hunter Henry) Hooper might seem like a smart play. After all, he has posted back-to-back 70-catch seasons, and also can function as an in-line tight end with solid blocking chops.
But Hooper is more of a complementary piece rather than a tight end on par with Kelce, Ertz and others. He is adept at finding soft areas in zone coverage and sitting down, making himself available for his quarterback, but he is not exactly the mismatch type tight end that modern NFL offenses are running their passing games through. According to PFF, Hooper gained 75.5% of his receiving production on targets defined as holes in zones or underneath the defense, which is the highest percentage in the league.
What does this mean? The team that signs Hooper needs to have additional pieces around him to make the production worth the expense. Finally, consider this: Again, PFF grades are but one data point, but since 2016 Hooper has just a 58.9 receiving grade against single coverage. If you’re asking him to be the focal point, you might be disappointed. But as a part of a balanced offensive approach, then it makes sense.