Who Should I Start? Austin Hooper or Mason Taylor

Tuesday, July 29, 9:36 PM

New England Patriots tight end Austin Hooper (undisclosed) returned to practice on Tuesday, according to Evan Lazar of Patriots.com. Hooper had started camp on the active/physically unable to perform list, but he appears to be back in action. The 30-year-old recorded 45 catches for 476 yards and three touchdowns in 17 games with New England in 2024. He's behind Hunter Henry on the Patriots' tight end depth chart, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see the team use plenty of two tight-end sets now that Josh McDaniels is back in town as the play-caller. Even still, Hooper would need an injury to Henry to crack the radar of fantasy managers.

Tuesday, August 12, 3:08 PM

New York Jets rookie tight end Mason Taylor (ankle) has returned to training camp practice and is a full-go, according to Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic. Taylor has recovered quickly from what was being called a high-ankle sprain. The 21-year-old second-rounder missed the team's preseason opener last week, but now that he's back to full practices, he should be able to suit up for Saturday's second preseason game against the New York Giants. Fantasy managers in redraft leagues are probably going to ignore Taylor in 12-team leagues, but it's worth noting that he's fully expected to open the year as the Jets' top pass-catching tight end. The Jets' offense is expected to lean heavily on the ground game, but quarterback Justin Fields won't have many weapons to throw to outside of WR1 Garrett Wilson. Taylor should be a TE3 with upside for more.