The Browns yesterday made Austin Hooper the highest-paid tight end in the game. I'm not going to rip that; that's how free agency works, with timing occasionally enabling guys like Hooper to make more money than Travis Kelce. The question is whether Hooper in Cleveland will have more or less fantasy value than he had in Atlanta.
Cleveland has a new coaching staff, with former Vikings coordinator Kevin Stefanski taking over. So you can't place too much stock in what their offense did in the past. But we can look at how Baker Mayfield has utilized the position the last two years, to see if he's a guy who tends to look for the tight end or not.
It would be hard for Hooper to see as much usage as he did in Atlanta, certainly in terms of catches. Over the last two seasons, only six teams threw more passes to tight ends than the Falcons. In that same timeframe, only eight teams threw fewer passes to the position than Cleveland.
| TIGHT END RECEIVING, 2018-2019 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | No | Yards | TD |
| Philadelphia | 310 | 3181 | 24 |
| Kansas City | 223 | 2846 | 18 |
| Oakland | 215 | 2538 | 19 |
| Baltimore | 211 | 2593 | 19 |
| San Francisco | 197 | 2635 | 14 |
| Indianapolis | 194 | 2183 | 28 |
| Atlanta | 177 | 1788 | 12 |
| NY Giants | 174 | 1848 | 12 |
| LA Rams | 168 | 1785 | 10 |
| Dallas | 163 | 1610 | 11 |
| Minnesota | 157 | 1483 | 12 |
| Tampa Bay | 146 | 1718 | 16 |
| Green Bay | 144 | 1625 | 9 |
| Tennessee | 143 | 1750 | 14 |
| Cincinnati | 142 | 1416 | 10 |
| Pittsburgh | 139 | 1527 | 9 |
| Denver | 137 | 1453 | 8 |
| New Orleans | 136 | 1695 | 16 |
| Carolina | 134 | 1420 | 10 |
| Houston | 132 | 1512 | 13 |
| Seattle | 128 | 1333 | 15 |
| Washington | 128 | 1433 | 8 |
| Cleveland | 116 | 1350 | 17 |
| LA Chargers | 116 | 1359 | 9 |
| Jacksonville | 112 | 989 | 4 |
| NY Jets | 111 | 1181 | 11 |
| Detroit | 111 | 1156 | 7 |
| Chicago | 110 | 1084 | 9 |
| Miami | 105 | 1115 | 7 |
| Buffalo | 102 | 1129 | 5 |
| New England | 91 | 1180 | 5 |
| Arizona | 86 | 1020 | 5 |
Cleveland didn't have a pass catcher like Hooper, but they weren't bereft at the position either, with David Njoku, Demetrius Harris and Ricky Seals-Jones (Harris signed with Chicago last week; the others are currently valueless). But with Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry at wide receiver, the chances of Hooper being better than the No. 3 in the passing game, which isn't as good as Atlanta's, aren't great.
On Hooper's behalf, Cleveland has thrown 17 touchdowns to tight ends the last two seasons; that's 5 more than Atlanta. So just maybe while Hooper won't catch as many passes, Mayfield will lean on him more in the red zone than Matt Ryan did.
In general, though, I suspect Hooper will be overvalued. Definitely won't be the fantasy steal he was a year ago.
--Andy Richardson