Who Should I Start? Austin Hooper or Luke Musgrave

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.

Saturday, November 8, 5:23 PM

Green Bay Packers tight end Luke Musgrave has a big opportunity on deck as Green Bay hosts the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10. With Tucker Kraft's knee injury ending his season, Musgrave becomes the next man up. While we can't expect Kraft's previous production to all go to Musgrave moving forward, he does have some route-based upside. Musgrave should run most of the tight end routes for the Packers, with only John FitzPatrick and former Tennessee Titan Josh Whyle recently promoted to the Packers' active roster. Realistically, it's likely that Musgrave mixes in with the rest of the pass-catchers in Green Bay rather than take charge as a preferred target for quarterback Jordan Love. In the Packers' Week 10 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, Musgrave is just a low-end streamer for fantasy purposes.