Falcons' Austin Hooper: Developing into more complete player

Head coach Dan Quinn said Saturday that Hooper is improving as a run blocker, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com reports.

If Hooper can adequately contribute in opening up running lanes for Atlanta's talented stable of backs, it will likely increase the third-year tight end's weekly snap count. His pass-catching abilities and athleticism are a proven commodity, but improvement as a blocker will only up his fantasy value by way of enhanced playing time. Hooper has potential low-end TE1 value within the high-powered Falcons offense, as he'll frequently be facing single coverage given all the other weapons that opponents have to account for. The concern would be that with such an embarrassment of riches at the skill positions, Hooper might not get the requisite number of targets to be a starting-level fantasy asset in standard leagues.