Who Should I Start? Austin Hooper or Dallas Goedert

Saturday, September 20, 2:49 AM

New England Patriots tight end Austin Hooper has seen increased usage within the team's offense, but it's not enough to justify starting him in fantasy football against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3. Hooper's snap share jumped from 32 percent in Week 1 to 62 percent in Week 2, and his pass-catching volume increased, too. The 30-year-old caught all three of his targets for 38 yards last week, out-producing Hunter Henry despite playing fewer snaps than him. Hooper remains the No. 2 tight end on the depth chart behind Henry, but he's still seeing decent playing time, especially in two-tight end sets. This week, Hooper is facing a mid-range Steelers defense that has allowed the 12th-most fantasy points to tight ends. Hooper ranks as RotoBaller's TE41 this week, and he can be benched in most leagues.

Friday, November 14, 10:43 PM

Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert's six targets were second-most for his team in their last game, trailing only behind DeVonta Smith who had seven. Unfortunately for Goedert, this was his third game of the season in which he did not score a touchdown, and he has relied heavily on finding the end zone to have real fantasy production. He'll look to get back to his scoring ways this week against the Lions, whose defense allows the 13th-least amount of fantasy points to tight ends this year. In two of Detroit's last four games, the leading receiver for the opposing team has been a tight end (Cade Otton and Travis Kelce), which poses some promise for Goedert heading into Sunday Night Football. It feels like starting him boils down to taking the gamble on whether or not he finds pay dirt, but he still does it more often than not. He's a low-end TE1 in Week 11.