Top five tight ends for Redskins to target in 2020 free agency

When looking at the tight ends that will be available this offseason, there’s no option better than Austin Hooper. The former second-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons has vastly improved year-to-year and in 2019, he was among the best tight ends in the NFL.

Despite being a part of Atlanta’s crowded offense, Hooper saw 97 targets and made 75 catches for 787 yards and six touchdowns. All of those numbers were career highs and that was despite missing three games with an injury.

And again, he was a part of an Atlanta offense that had to give targets to Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Devonta Freeman, and, for part of the year, Mohamed Sanu yet still managed to be one of the league’s top-producing tight ends. That’s very impressive, especially considering that Hooper only turned 25 in November.

Hooper still has time to improve and with a greater target share, he should continue to be among the league’s best statistical performers at the position. Beyond that, he’s a great all-around player and can impact the game as a blocker as well.

Hooper would be an excellent fit with the Redskins and would complement Terry McLaurin and Steven Sims perfectly. He probably would get a lot of targets from Dwayne Haskins, as Hooper will be able to find pockets of space and Haskins will look for him as a big mid-level target. He could emerge as the No. 2 weapon for the ‘Skins if they do target him.

That said, Hooper may be a popular man on the open market and contenders like the Patriots could bid for his services. If that’s the case, Hooper may stand to become one of the NFL’s highest paid tight ends and could receive close to (if not, more than) the $10 million per year that Jimmy Graham got from the Green Bay Packers.

Still, that could be worth it to acquire the ascending young talent especially in a year where the tight end draft class is largely considered to be weak.