Who Should I Start? Austin Hooper or Jordan Akins

Wednesday, November 20, 8:04 PM

New England Patriots tight end Austin Hooper (neck) was listed as limited on the team's practice report on Wednesday. Hooper apparently picked up a neck injury in the Week 11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, but the fact that he practiced at all on Wednesday means he has a good shot of playing this Sunday when the team takes on the division-rival Miami Dolphins. The 30-year-old has seen an uptick in production the last two weeks with rookie quarterback Drake Maye now leading the offense -- he's caught seven of eight targets for 99 yards -- although he's still nothing more than a low-end TE2 for fantasy purposes while ceding most of the tight end pass-catching work to Hunter Henry. In his first year in New England, Hooper has just one trip to paydirt and has 23 receptions (34 targets) for 236 yards in 11 games.

Sunday, October 6, 9:32 PM

Cleveland Browns tight end Jordan Akins caught all three of his targets for 22 yards and a touchdown in a 34-13 loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 5. Akins scored Cleveland's only touchdown in garbage time as he hauled in a 10-yard score with 7:06 left in the game, cutting the Commanders' lead to 34-12. The veteran tight end was expected to see his role scaled back with David Njoku returning from an ankle injury in Week 5, but Njoku injured his knee during the loss to the Commanders and could be looking at another absence. Akins is worth a look in deep leagues and tight-end premium formats if Njoku ends up missing time with his latest ailment.