Rookie Report Card: Corey Coleman and Austin Hooper
Each week throughout the season, I’ll cover at least two rookies in the Rookie Report Card and try to always include the biggest performers from that particular week. On top of reviewing my expectations for each player coming into the league and covering how he’s performed at the NFL level to this point, I’ll actually give him a grade in three categories. Those categories are performance to date, 2016 potential and long term upside.
The series continues with a look at Corey Coleman and Austin Hooper.
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Corey Coleman, WR CLE
Week One Stats: five receptions, 104 yards, two touchdowns (eight targets)
Coleman was one of my favorite prospects during draft season. Throughout his time at Baylor, he showed game changing quickness and a knack for dropping jaws by making impossible looking catches look easy. Through the first two games of his NFL career, we’ve seen exactly why so many we so high on him back in the spring.
If you read any scouting report of Coleman, the first thing that popped off the screen was his incredible burst off the line of scrimmage. Able to shrink a cover man’s cushion in a split second, he puts defenders on their heels instantly which makes him an absolutely deadly deep threat.
That leads me to the Browns’ opening drive against the Ravens on Sunday.
After picking up a couple first downs, Josh McCown faced a third-and-nine from the Ravens’ 31-yard line. Coleman lined up wide to the left with cornerback Shareece Wright in press coverage. At the snap, Wright immediately took a step back as he was forced to respect Coleman’s blazing speed. Coleman opened his route by taking three steps to the outside before cutting underneath the defender – which caused Wright to nearly spin completely around – and immediately hit high gear to burn the corner down the sideline for a 31-yard score.
Let’s go back to the scouting report for a moment.
After his knee buckling quickness and straight line speed, the next thing that had onlookers so smitten over Coleman was his uncanny ability to high point the football on jump balls. Showing exquisite timing, an eyebrow raising 40.5 inch vertical to go along with impressive body control while in the air, he has the ability to sky for a jump ball despite is small frame (5’-11”, 194 pounds.)
Let’s skip ahead to the last play of the third quarter on Sunday.
Once again on third down, this time McCown and the Browns needed five yards to move the sticks. Coleman was lined up wide right with Wright now playing off coverage. Running a straight fly pattern, he got inside position on the corner and McCown skied a high arcing jump ball. With Wright crawling up his back, Coleman climbed the ladder, secured the ball at it’s highest possible point, and brought it in before immediately being pulled to the ground.
Although it wasn’t an amazing acrobatic catch, the pass was tightly contested and gives us a glimpse of Coleman’s playmaking ability against NFL defenders.
Before gushing too much about Coleman’s incredible speed and playmaking ability, I’d be remised if I didn’t mention what most of his critics consider to be the most glaring weakness in Coleman’s game – his limited route tree. Many have tried to make the case that outside of the deep ball, he’s never proved he could contribute as a regular weapon at receiver. While there are certainly reasons to questions Coleman as a route runner, there’s really no evidence to suggest he can’t develop into a solid all around route runner – especially considering his ability to change directions so quickly an effortlessly.
That leads us to the other three catches Coleman made on Sunday.
To go along with the two deep balls, he made an impressive ten-yard catch and run for a touchdown on a quick hitter where the defender was in off coverage, a five-yard catch on a bubble screen, and a 17-yard pickup on a nice comeback route where he forced Wright up the field before slamming on the brakes and turning around to make the catch.
While these examples certainly aren’t proof that Coleman is a polished route runner, it’s fair to say that the early takeaway from watching Coleman as an NFL receiver is that all the positives we saw from him while in college have translated nicely to the NFL. Meanwhile, the negatives that we saw on those scouting reports a few months ago can be hidden quite well by him incredible athletic ability.
All things told, if Coleman can develop as a route runner, which is quite likely considering his skill set, he has a chance to develop into a consistent high end WR2 and no doubt has the upside to put up some monster games that can win fantasy matchups for his owners. Although his short term upside is definitely tarnished by the lack of talent under center for the Browns, the sky is the limit for Coleman.
| Rookie Report Card | ||
| Player: Corey Coleman | ||
| Performance To Date | 2016 Potential | Long Term Upside |
| A- | C | A- |
Austin Hooper, TE ATL
Week One Stats: three receptions, 84 receiving yards (three targets)
When I first saw that Hooper was drafted by the Falcons back in April, I nodded my head in approval. The Falcons have desperately been in need of a pass catcher at tight end ever since Tony Gonzalez retired and Hooper seems the kind of player that can fill that void.
Coming out of Stanford, Hooper had a reputation as a good all-around tight end prospect. With enough speed (4.72 40-yard dash) to beat a linebacker or safety up the seam, he has the ability to be a vertical threat. Also displaying good route running while starting for the Cardinal, he showed he can get open on short to intermediate routes by changing directions quickly for a guy his size – particularly when running quick comebacks and drags.
After the catch, Hooper also proved while in college he could be dangerous – both in the open field and at the point of the tackle. His above average speed allows him to turn a simple five-yard route into a big play and his power gives him the ability to break tackles when he makes a catch in traffic.
Despite rookie tight ends notoriously being slow starters, Hooper showed many of the positives we saw on tape from him on Sunday in Oakland when he made two big plays in the third quarter for the Falcons.
The first came on second-and-seven from the Falcons’ 28-yard line when Hooper lined up as the inside tight end in a two TE set on the right side of the formation. With the Raiders playing zone, he ran straight up the seam, getting behind the linebackers and splitting the safeties before hauling in the pass for a 41-yard gain with the safety bearing down on him. He showed good speed on the play and good feel for finding the soft spot in the zone by bending his route to the outside to stay away from the safety in the middle of the field.
Later in the quarter Hooper made another big play on first down from the Falcons’ 39-yard line when he again lineup up on the right of the formation in a two TE set. This time he drug across the formation while executing a fake as a run blocker which completely duped the linebacker. He then turned up field as he neared the sideline and was all alone running down the numbers when Matt Ryan released the ball. A good throw may have turned into a 61-yard touchdown but the pass was thrown so far behind Hooper that he had to nearly stop to make the grab which allowed the linebacker to catch up and push him out of bounds. The play was another example of good awareness and route running as he sold his fake perfectly and quickly got up field to make the big play.
Although Hooper is by no means a finished product, he has the upside to be the long term answer at tight end for the Falcons. With Julio Jones on the outside taking the defense’s attention, he has enough speed to make defenses pay in the seam, good enough route running to get open as an option for Ryan in the middle of the field, and the ability to make contested catches in the red zone and on third down. . He’s also a quality run blocker, which will help keep him on the field, particularly around the goal line.
Although he has little upside in 2016, Hooper has the potential to become a mid-to-low end TE1 if he continues to develop and is an excellent developmental tight end for dynasty owners.
| Rookie Report Card | ||
| Player: Austin Hooper | ||
| Performance To Date | 2016 Potential | Long Term Upside |
| C | D+ | B |
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