RUMOR - Cardinals one of several teams interested in Austin Hooper

Jetstream Green

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Sorry guys, another thing I'd hate. I don't want to trash every conceptual move.

Here's a guy who has never started a full season, plays on an offense with insane talent around him, and has been alright as long as you're playing fantasy football. Let's drop a ton of coin on him when we have wild empty spots across the roster.

I would love to upgrade at TE, I always have, but how in the hell are we filling these other spaces with no starters? Is Keim just gonna crash and burn the ship with wild contracts?

He may as well, since the alternative is losing his job, but **** me.

I have watched a few Falcon games since my brother is a die hard Falcon fan, and Hooper does have legit difference making ability at TE. Did you know how frustrated Falcon fans were with how their talent was totally being misused for a majority of the season. Did you even watch enough Falcon games past the stat sheet to form an opinion on the possibilities of Hooper in another offence... because the thought of Hooper with Arnold in the redzone makes me giddy :)
 

TheCardFan

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No one said they were

Sent from my mystical communication warp drive device thingy

Watson is not Mahomes or Wilson.

But you want to pay a guy 9-10m/year? That's what you will have to pay to get Hooper or Henry...makes zero sense for this team.

If he was Kelce or Kittle and could be your effective #1 WR, then it might make sense at 10m. 10m is less expensive than the 12-15m you may have to pay a starting WR.

Problem is...Hooper isn't on that level.

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I’m sure Hooper would be productive but you have to spend limited money very carefully.

100% this
 
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RugbyMuffin

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But you want to pay a guy 9-10m/year? That's what you will have to pay to get Hooper or Henry...makes zero sense for this team.

If he was Kelce or Kittle and could be your effective #1 WR, then it might sense at 10m. 10m is less expensive than the 12-15m you may have to pay a starting WR.

Problem is...Hooper isn't on that level.

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I have no problem paying the cost for talent.

This being "cute" in an attempt to out smart the system has produced the dog pile we have had to watch.

If the offense needs a 9mil TE, then go get him.



Sent from my mystical communication warp drive device thingy
 

Jetstream Green

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I have no problem paying the cost for talent.

This being "cute" in an attempt to out smart the system has produced the dog pile we have had to watch.

If the offense needs a 9mil TE, then go get him.



Sent from my mystical communication warp drive device thingy

I personally think Hooper can be extremely effective in Kliff's offense... if you look at our success running and passing out of a double back or TE set, this might be more attainable than finding a legit number one WR for what he has shown to excel at
 
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Chopper0080

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But you want to pay a guy 9-10m/year? That's what you will have to pay to get Hooper or Henry...makes zero sense for this team.

If he was Kelce or Kittle and could be your effective #1 WR, then it might make sense at 10m. 10m is less expensive than the 12-15m you may have to pay a starting WR.

Problem is...Hooper isn't on that level.

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100% this
Jimmy Graham got paid 10 mil per season in 2018. Kelce got paid 9.3 2 years prior. If you adjust Kelce's contract by the rate the cap has increased, it values at 11 mil. Kyle Rudolph got 9 mil last year.

Here is the question, where do you feel Hooper ranks in the NFL as a TE?

1 and 2 are Kelce and Kittle.

After that?

He has a similar athletic profile to Zach Ertz but I think you can argue that Ertz is better. Who else is better?
 

DVontel

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He's 6'5 and 230. At the very least he's going to be a RZ threat just based on size.
So was Dorial Green-Beckham.

Having a big frame doesn’t mean much if you can’t high point & have drop problems.

I dislike the Butler pick because it has some of our fans thinking we should not draft a WR cause they have Sky-high expectations for him despite being a very flawed prospect.
 

Jetstream Green

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Jimmy Graham got paid 10 mil per season in 2018. Kelce got paid 9.3 2 years prior. If you adjust Kelce's contract by the rate the cap has increased, it values at 11 mil. Kyle Rudolph got 9 mil last year.

Here is the question, where do you feel Hooper ranks in the NFL as a TE?

1 and 2 are Kelce and Kittle.

After that?

He has a similar athletic profile to Zach Ertz but I think you can argue that Ertz is better. Who else is better?

Free agents when they offer the possibility of improving a roster always tend to get more than a accurate market value, and then tend to dictate the salary of guys who are legit proven studs with contract discussions. It's the nature of the beast even when the free agents might not deserve the contract... I think Hooper is worth the roll of the dice from what I have seen and what I witness from Kliff's readjustment of his offensive approach
 

AZman5103

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I would argue that a TE who lines up outside of the RT and can require the DE to chip him to slow down his release actually helps Kyler's time to throw. Also the impact that TE's have on the play action passing game also creates space to throw for QBs...thus helping Kyler.

Is Matthew Judon going to matter a lick if Kyler Murray gets knocked out of a game? Is Chris Jones going to matter if we can't move the ball on offense?

Procedure for helping a young QB survive

Step 1 - Protect Him

Step 2 - Give him some weapons

Step 3 - Build a defense to keep games close

I agree with those steps. So we need two starting OT's and an OC...because Humphries, and Shipley suck, and Murray is probably not a dominant starter for years to come.

If you can get me Thomas, Creed Humphrey, and Lucas Niang in the first 3 rounds, then I would be ecstatic to sign Hooper!
 

BritCard

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So was Dorial Green-Beckham.

Having a big frame doesn’t mean much if you can’t high point & have drop problems.

I dislike the Butler pick because it has some of our fans thinking we should not draft a WR cause they have Sky-high expectations for him despite being a very flawed prospect.

I don't have sky high expectations. I'd just like to see what we have first.

I prefer to go shopping after I know what's in the cupboard, or I'm wasting money.
 

Jetstream Green

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For those who do not think Hooper is worth a go, I can see Hooper toasting us as a Seahawk if Vance Joseph does not tweak his scheme, but I also see Arnold as not much of drop off from Hooper (granted I think Arnold is a stud waiting to happen and there is a reason the Saints or Payton were trying to hold on to him) and then with a non steal also acquiring Hooper would be golden with Fitz when we are sniffing the endzone... ok, I am rambling now but yeah I like the idea of getting Hooper here lol
 

Jetstream Green

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I don't have sky high expectations. I'd just like to see what we have first.

I prefer to go shopping after I know what's in the cupboard, or I'm wasting money.

Your cupboard analogy sure does not seem to coincide with Humphries at LT mate... and this is joking by the way :)
 

BritCard

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Jimmy Graham got paid 10 mil per season in 2018. Kelce got paid 9.3 2 years prior. If you adjust Kelce's contract by the rate the cap has increased, it values at 11 mil. Kyle Rudolph got 9 mil last year.

Here is the question, where do you feel Hooper ranks in the NFL as a TE?

1 and 2 are Kelce and Kittle.

After that?

He has a similar athletic profile to Zach Ertz but I think you can argue that Ertz is better. Who else is better?

Hooper wasn't even in PFFs top 10 heading into the season

https://www.pff.com/news/pro-pff-ranks-the-top-10-tight-ends-ahead-of-the-2019-nfl-season
 

Solar7

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21st in passing DVOA...

and I am pretty sure Kyler wants players who can get open, catch the ball, and make plays. You don't have to spend 13 mil on Matthew Judon to improve on defense. We were ranked 27th in DVOA vs the pass and 12th in DVOA vs the run. Improve at S, CB, defense vs TE, and put a better edge rush group opposite of Chandler Jones and you should be more competitive.

You don't need to spend 40mil to improve on Jalen Thompson, Robert Alford, Joe Walker, and the combination of Suggs/Brooks Reed/Cassius Marsh.

Why are you ignoring that we don’t have any starting players (and even not backups) signed at DE, OLB, ILB, and that's just defense?

The more we watch the team whittle down the cap with Fitz, Humphries, Shipley, Drake, and now the thought of Hooper... the more likely we are to be starting street free agents or late round picks at these positions.

We just don't have the money. We don't even have the money to improve over Thompson & Alford. Those guys will have to play a big role.

You're upgrading the rest of the car when it doesn't even have a transmission. I get that we want these other parts and want Kyler to have weapons, but we have to be smart and realize that no matter what, we still have to fill these roster spots and field a team.

Kyler scoring 35 points a game will mean nothing when our defense trots out there as #32 again.
 

kerouac9

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At the 2020 Reese’s Senior Bowl, FAU tight end Harrison Bryant is one of three under-the-radar sleepers to watch

https://www.profootballnetwork.com/2020-reeses-senior-bowl-sleepers-harrison-bryant-vildor-kareem/

IMO, TE is one of the hardest positions to scout. Top-shelf generational prospects often end up being ordinary players or washing out of the NFL altogether. Meanwhile, George Kittle was a 5th round pick, and the greatest Cardinal of all time, Jim Dray, was drafted in the 7th round.
 

Solar7

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I have watched a few Falcon games since my brother is a die hard Falcon fan, and Hooper does have legit difference making ability at TE. Did you know how frustrated Falcon fans were with how their talent was totally being misused for a majority of the season. Did you even watch enough Falcon games past the stat sheet to form an opinion on the possibilities of Hooper in another offence... because the thought of Hooper with Arnold in the redzone makes me giddy :)
I watched a lot of Falcons games, yes. Fantasy football. And that's exactly why I'm not overwhelmingly impressed - the rest of the talent around him is superb.
 

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It's a lock, Hooper will be a Cardinal next season. One of the few positions on this team that is not in dire straits is TE, so Keim will definitely throw big money at Hooper.

We really need to spend 10m on a tight end... said nobody at all until today
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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I recall in various arenas the propositions of “play to your strengths” or “enhance your strengths rather than expend more energy trying to fill your weaknesses.” I think it holds true with sports. First, identify your strength. Can you make that strength top in the field? If so, do that before trying to fill weaknesses. Weaknesses are weaknesses for a reason - they are more difficult to build up do to your specific circumstances. The cards strength at present is definitely the offense. It’s middle of the pack. But if they add top tier weapons to it the hope is it’s jumps to elite. If you ignore it to instead build an atrocious defense to mediocre you’re essentially left with a team that’s mediocre all over. It seems smarter to build to a side of the team to elite and then follow by building defense to mediocre. For those reasons and hoopers age and skill set I am all for signing him.
 
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