Who Should I Start? Austin Hooper or Mike Williams

Wednesday, March 13, 12:18 AM

Las Vegas Raiders free-agent tight end Austin Hooper is expected to sign a one-year deal worth up to $4.25 million with the New England Patriots on Wednesday. The veteran tight end will reunite with new Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who was with Hooper with the Cleveland Browns. Hooper made the Pro Bowl two straight years from 2018-19 while with the Atlanta Falcons, but he hasn't been nearly as involved as he was then in the last four seasons with the Browns, Titans and Raiders. In 17 games (nine starts) last year in Vegas, the 29-year-old caught just 25 of 31 targets for 234 yards and no touchdowns. With both Mike Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown now gone, Hooper figures to serve as New England's No. 2 TE behind Hunter Henry in 2024. Unless Henry gets hurt, Hooper is unlikely to have a significant enough role to warrant fantasy consideration in standard-sized leagues.

Monday, March 25, 4:40 PM

New York Jets wide receiver Mike Williams (knee) is unlikely to take part in training camp, according to general manager Joe Douglas. "Mike's rehabbing the knee injury. I would say he's not gonna be ready for the start of training camp, but again, there's a lot of time, so we'll see how the rehab progresses, Douglas said. "There's a lot of checkpoints to hit, but we do feel confident that he's gonna be ready for the year." The 29-year-old is coming off an ACL tear he suffered in Week 3 of last season, so the injury update is not much of a surprise. The longtime Los Angeles Charger is expected to fill the WR2 role behind Garrett Wilson this season. Although he has durability concerns, the contested-catch specialist could do serious damage with Aaron Rodgers at the helm, making him an intriguing best ball target in 2024.