Atlanta Falcons: 3 Standouts vs. Vikings in Week 1
2. Austin Hooper
Another player that was a standout for Atlanta in the Week 1 loss on Sunday at US Bank Stadium was the large tight end target that is Austin Hooper. Hooper, a 24-year old tight end and one-time Pro Bowler, had himself a nice game against a tough Vikings defense for the Falcons, leading all receivers on both teams in total yards.
With a total of nine targets in the contest, which was the second-most targets for an Atlanta player behind Julio Jones’ 11 targets, Hooper finished with a game-high 77 yards receiving on nine catches. With an average of 8.6 yards per catch, Hooper’s longest reception of the game came on a 16-yard reception out of the hands of veteran quarterback Matt Ryan.
Hooper, who was drafted by the Falcons in the third round of the NFL Draft in 2016 while coming out of Stanford, is in his fourth season in the league and with Atlanta this year.
After putting together his best season as a professional in 2018, a year where he earned his first Pro Bowl appearance, Hooper appeared in all 16 games during the regular season while starting in seven of those games.
With 71 catches on 88 targets, the fourth-year tight end tallied a career-high 660 yards and career-best four touchdowns for the Falcons in 2018, finishing the year with a catch percentage of 80.7 percent and an average of 41.3 yards receiving per game.
On Sunday, Hooper showed us all that he has the potential to continue to be a reliable target within the Atlanta offense, continuing his career trend of seeming to catch everything that is thrown in his direction throughout the course of any game.
Not only is his a target that Ryan can lean on while putting together a drive on offense, but he also has the ability to be a trusted red-zone target behind Jones, Calvin Ridley and the rest of the wide receiving corps for the Falcons.
With Jones being held in check for the most part on Sunday against Minnesota, Hooper was able to step up and help carry the load to open up the always-potent Falcons passing game. That will continue to be a trend we see throughout the course of the season, especially with Jones continuing to gather a bulk of the attention from the opposition.