I will repeat: To say Austin Hooper is in a good spot this weekend vs. the Cardinals would be an understatement. All the Cardinals have done this season is allow huge performances to tight ends. Let’s go over their first five weeks:

Week 1: T.J. Hockenson, DET — 6-131-1
Week 2: Mark Andrews, BAL — 8-112-1
Week 3: Greg Olsen, CAR — 6-75-2
Week 4: Will Dissly, SEA — 7-57-1
Week 5: Well, Tyler Eifert and C.J. Ozumah didn’t do much, but it’s Tyler Eifert and C.J. Ozumah. The Bengals aren’t very good either.

You get it though, normally when Arizona is facing an above average receiving tight end, it allows plenty of fantasy points. Hooper is very much in the category of above average given his season so far. After being hyped up the past couple seasons, Hooper is finally making due on said hype, on pace to set career highs in almost every offensive category. I mean, hell, right now he LEADS the Falcons in receiving yards ahead of Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley; Hooper has 34 receptions for 363 yards and two TDs through five games. Yes, the same Julio Jones who has led the NFL in receiving yards in two of the past five seasons.

Fantasy Football Analysis, Atlanta Falcons TE Austin Hooper

At this point I feel like there isn’t much more that needs to be said. Hooper is a fantastic TE1 option heading into Week 6. He has at least six targets in each of his five games this season, he’s a reliable outlet for QB Matt Ryan, notching at least three first downs in each of the past three games. Hooper should get red zone looks, he should get a decent amount of targets in arguably the best game environment entering Sunday. Maybe Chiefs-Texans is a bit better but it isn’t in a dome. Don’t even think about benching Hooper this week. I don’t care if you’re in an 8-team league and you have Travis Kelce and George Kittle. Find a way.

Start/Sit Recommendation

Start.

“All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS contests.”