Who Should I Start? Randall Cobb or Austin Hooper

Thursday, December 28, 7:14 PM

New York Jets wide receiver Allen Lazard (illness) is inactive for the Week 17 game on Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns after coming into the game listed as questionable to play. As a result of Lazard being too ill to play, veteran Randall Cobb will be active for just the 10th time this season. He'll still be behind Garrett Wilson, Jason Brownlee and Xavier Gipson in the receiving pecking order and probably won't be on the field all that much on offense. The 33-year-old has only four catches on 16 targets for 35 yards and a touchdown in his first year in New York. Lazard has been even more of a bust for the Jets in his first year in 2023, catching 23 of his 49 targets for 311 yards and a touchdown in 14 games. He was expected to be a solid No. 2 next to Wilson, but it hasn't worked out that way.

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.