In the 2020 offseason, the Cleveland Browns tried to address their lack of impact from the tight end position by bringing in Austin Hooper as a free agent. He was coming off of a solid year with the Atlanta Falcons and this had some hype surrounding him last season. He silenced that hype with a TE21 finish and his lowest fantasy output since 2016. Hooper was fine for real football in Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs, but his fantasy performance is worrisome for the 2021 season.
Fantasy Football analysis: Browns TE Austin Hooper
Hooper brought in all three of his targets, but only managed 27 yards out of it. He still appears to be the lead tight end in this offense, but with quarterback Baker Mayfield struggling to find the endzone, it may be hard for Hooper to be fantasy relevant without a touchdown. While we try to find value with tight ends wherever we can, it would be hard to try and trust a touchdown-dependent Hooper on a week-to-week basis.
Fantasy Start/Sit Recommendation
Sit Austin Hooper this week.