Who Should I Start? Austin Hooper or Ben Sinnott

Sunday, March 9, 8:57 PM

The New England Patriots are re-signing veteran tight end Austin Hooper to a one-year, $5 million deal with a max value of $7 million. Hooper, a two-time Pro Bowler, notched 45 receptions and 476 yards with New England a season ago, his highest marks since his 2021 stint with the Cleveland Browns. While he began the 2024 season cold, the 30-year-old picked it up over the back half -- racking up four catches in five of his last seven appearances as then-rookie signal-caller Drake Maye got acclimated to the NFL. The Stanford product played second fiddle to fellow tight end Hunter Henry last season and figures to do so again if his teammate stays healthy, as the latter out-paced the former handily in snaps (835-575) despite playing in one fewer contest. It's possible Hooper returns some TE2 value this upcoming season, but he's better off left to waivers until he proves otherwise.

Wednesday, January 15, 9:40 PM

Washington Commanders tight end Ben Sinnott (shoulder) logged a limited practice session for the second consecutive day in preparation for his team's meeting with the Detroit Lions this Saturday. The rookie was used sparingly in his debut campaign -- hauling in all five of his targets despite appearing in all 17 contests. Ironically, Sinnott played more snaps earlier on in the season than he'd rack up over its last three outings -- logging double-digit snap percentages twice as opposed to the 12 times he did so over the first 13 weeks. This role remained the same in the Wild Card round, as he registered just seven of a possible 73 snaps while fellow TEs John Bates (38) and Zach Ertz (46) handily out-snapped him. With the Commanders lining up on Saturday, the 22-year-old will have one more shot to enhance his practice participation before his team must designate a status for the Divisional Round. If he can't go, Bates and Ertz would garner a higher workload.