5. Austin Hooper, Cleveland Browns
I can hear some of the criticism about Austin Hooper’s game now. “He cannot consistently separate from man coverage. Most of his production comes on running over routes, usually off of play-action, and finding soft spots in zone coverage. He gets the benefit of a favorable scheme. He gets the benefit of having talent around him like Julio Jones.”
Given that these lists are somewhat forward-thinking in nature, what is he walking into in Cleveland? A play-action heavy offense that will rely on receivers running a bevy of over routes and finding spots in zone coverage. That’s why they drafted Justin Jefferson, and it’s certainly why Hooper was a big part of their plans. In addition, do the names Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. ring a bell?
Besides that, the job of an organization is to identify what a player does well, and put him in those situations. Hooper is extremely adept at finding the soft spots in zone coverage, and has great feel for identifying and sitting down in those creases. He is a master at the “chip and release” game, and transitions from delivering the blow to an edge rusher to a receiver in the flat almost instantly. That gave Matt Ryan a lot of extra time in the pocket last season, and it might go a long way towards making Baker Mayfield more content to stay in clean pockets in 2020. For my money, Hooper was one of the best acquisitions this off-season and I would anticipate a huge year from him in the season to come.