Raiders Hosting Two-Time Pro Bowler for Visit on Wednesday

The Las Vegas Raiders traded away a core piece of their team last week when star tight end Darren Waller was sent to the New York Giants. That now leaves another key hole Las Vegas needs to fill after replacing Derek Carr with Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason.

Austin Hooper Visiting Raiders

On Wednesday, the Raiders are scheduled to bring in Austin Hopper, who is viewed as a guy that could potentially assume Waller's role.

Now that's not to say this would be a lateral move. Even on his absolute best day, Hooper is no Waller, but he's no slouch either, despite what a couple of down years might suggest.

Hooper rode a career year with the Atlanta Falcons in 2019 (75 catches, 787 receiving yards, 6 touchdowns) to a big contract with the Cleveland Browns. That type of season never materialized again for Hooper over the last three seasons, only two of which were in Cleveland. In 2022, he played for the Tennessee Titans.

He did have 41 catches for 444 yards and two touchdowns in 17 games last year. Las Vegas would probably be happy with that level of production, especially given he could be had for a relatively cheap price still.

Just 28 years old, a better-than-expected season from Hooper isn't out of the question. Jimmy G, who had a great connection with George Kittle in San Francisco, may look to favor his tight end once again in Las Vegas.

Nothing is final on Hooper, but of the available Waller replacements, Vegas could do much worse.

David Kaestle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username davekaestle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.