Who Should I Start? Travis Kelce or Austin Hooper

Monday, February 12, 1:04 PM

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who caught nine passes for 93 yards in the win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, said after the big game that he would return for another season rather than retire on top. The 34-year-old has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of the last nine years and is one of the best players at his position of all time, but he did show plenty of signs of slowing down in 2023. Kelce finished the regular season under 1,000 yards receiving for the first time since 2015, although he also missed two games (one due to injury). He also had just five receiving touchdowns, his fewest since 2019, and had some uncharacteristic drops along the way. Kelce will remain a high-end TE1 in fantasy in 2024 as the Chiefs go for a three-peat, but he's not going to be the overall TE1 entering fantasy drafts this fall.

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.