Atlanta Falcons: How good will tight end Austin Hooper be in 2017?

As the Atlanta Falcons head into the 2017 NFL Season, they seem ready to turn the tight end position over to Austin Hooper, but how good can he be?

After not bringing back veteran tight end Jacob Tamme for the 2017 NFL Season, it seems apparent that the Atlanta Falcons will expect second-year tight end Austin Hooper to become their top receiving option at the position. As a rookie he surely showed flashes of his potential as he recorded 19 receptions for 271 and three touchdowns.

Hooper is still learning the NFL game as he enters year two, but he’s also still relatively raw as the third-round pick played in just two seasons for the Stanford Cardinals while in the NCAA. His final season he had just 34 receptions, but did cross the goal line six times as he proved to be a reliable target in the red zone.

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With a full season of playing against NFL talent — as well as getting to build a rapport with quarterback Matt Ryan — how much can Hooper improve in his second season?

With Tamme gone, there will be plenty more passes coming the way of Hooper who looks to start opposite Levine Toilolo, who primarily serves as a blocker. In 2016 Tamme played in just eight games before being injured and had 31 targets come his way. The season before he had 81 targets while starting along with Toilolo.

Hooper and Tamme both had similar catch percentages on passes last season — 70.4 percent for Hooper and 71 percent for Tamme who also had 72.8 percent the season before. So should Hooper’s targets increase to the 80-plus range like Tamme had in 2015, he could very well find himself one of the more productive tight ends in the game.

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Bold Prediction for 2017:

So with the added targets coming the way of Hooper, here is a bold prediction for how well he will play in 2017:

59 receptions on 85 targets for 767 yards and 8 touchdowns.

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