Dallas Cowboys: Top-5 Free Agent Tight Ends to Target
By Reid Hanson
Austin Hooper
Age: 25
PFF Rank: 9
Austin Hooper is the cream of the crop this year. And with Atlanta somewhat handcuffed by their salary cap situation, there’s a good chance he’ll hit the open market. Hooper was off to a career year in 2019 before a knee injury caused him to miss three weeks and noticeably slow him down after his return.
Even still, Hooper was able to build on his 2018 Pro Bowl season and post a career year in catches, yards, TDs, 1st downs, and yards after the catch. In fact, the young TE has improved in every season he’s been in the NFL, indicating the best is yet to come for the free agent to-be.
The former third round pick of the Falcons only stands 6-foot-4, 254lbs. making him somewhat undersized for the position and more of a receiving threat than a blocking asset. But this may be fine in McCarthy’s system that calls for considerably more passes than runs and uses the tight end position for more of a chipper and downfield threat than a point-of-contact run blocker.
It’s worth mentioning, Austin Hooper was only rated four points behind Jason Witten in run-blocking (per Pro Football Focus) and 22 points ahead of Witten in receiving. There’s no doubt Hooper’s 4.5 yards after the catch per reception will be a welcomed sight to Dallas Cowboys fans who’ve grown tired of Witten’s 2.6 YBC/R. But it’s worth noting, if YAC is what you’re after, Blake Jarwin beats them both with 5.1 per reception.
Austin Hooper is an ascending talent who can do major damage in a high powered offense like Dallas’. He’s going to command top dollar (Spotrac estimates a deal averaging close to $10M per, totaling $50million), but you’d be getting a playmaking TE at the peak of his career. It may end up being a bargain.