Who Should I Start? Aaron Rodgers or Austin Hooper

Monday, April 15, 2:26 PM

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (Achilles), who is coming off a torn left Achilles suffered in the season opener in 2023, was present for Day 1 of the team's voluntary offseason workouts on Monday. Despite being 40 years old and coming off a pretty serious injury that knocked him out for all of last year, the future Hall of Famer is hoping to play multiple more seasons. Rodgers was able to return to practices late last season, so barring some sort of setback this offseason or in training camp this summer, Rodgers will be ready to go for Week 1 of the 2024 regular season. He has plenty of weapons around him in New York's offense, but it's fair to wonder how an aging signal-caller will do coming off a lost season. At best, fantasy managers should treat him as a low-end QB1 injury risk in drafts this fall.

Wednesday, March 13, 12:18 AM

Las Vegas Raiders free-agent tight end Austin Hooper is expected to sign a one-year deal worth up to $4.25 million with the New England Patriots on Wednesday. The veteran tight end will reunite with new Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who was with Hooper with the Cleveland Browns. Hooper made the Pro Bowl two straight years from 2018-19 while with the Atlanta Falcons, but he hasn't been nearly as involved as he was then in the last four seasons with the Browns, Titans and Raiders. In 17 games (nine starts) last year in Vegas, the 29-year-old caught just 25 of 31 targets for 234 yards and no touchdowns. With both Mike Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown now gone, Hooper figures to serve as New England's No. 2 TE behind Hunter Henry in 2024. Unless Henry gets hurt, Hooper is unlikely to have a significant enough role to warrant fantasy consideration in standard-sized leagues.