CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Let’s just get it out of the way.

Yes, the Browns and new general manager Andrew Berry probably overpaid for former Atlanta tight end Austin Hooper.

On Monday, Cleveland offered the 25-year-old tight end a record-setting contract that will make him the highest-paid NFL player at his position when the new league year begins Wednesday.

Hooper isn’t the punishing blocker or athlete George Kittle is. He doesn’t sip light beer off the Lombardi Trophy after a Super Bowl victory or chant Beastie Boys anthems either.

In fact, Hooper isn’t good against man coverage according to many metrics. Pro Football Focus ranked Hooper 10th among qualified tight ends against man coverage. Kittle and Travis Kelce were atop the list while even Jason Witten and Kyle Rudolph ranked ahead of him.

His lack of success versus man could be scheme related as often in football routes are run to get others open, not necessarily yourself. But still, the most expensive tight end shouldn’t be exclusively a zone beater.

He’ll have time to improve that area of his game in Cleveland because of the dynamic playmakers around him. If teams take Hooper out with man coverage then it will be up to Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and Kareem Hunt to beat their assignments.

Sprinkle in some Kevin Stefanski scheming play-action and that shouldn’t be a problem.

The combination of Beckham, Landry, Hunt and Stefanski is what makes Hooper’s addition a perfect fit. He’s assignment sound, will be exactly where Stefanski designs him to be. Plus he makes high-pointed athletic plays on the ball in traffic and in the red zone.

Berry overpaid because -- assuming the offensive line is taken care of come draft day -- Hooper is the final piece to Stefanski’s heavy personnel, and play-action centric, offensive puzzle.

We’ve addressed what Hooper isn’t. Now let’s take a look at why the Browns and specifically Baker Mayfield will enjoy his presence down the seam and versus soft coverages in 2020.

Hooper is a zone crushing football technician

Paired with Stefanski, Hooper is getting back to his Kyle Shanahan roots. Shanahan was the Falcons’ offensive coordinator in 2016 during Hooper’s rookie season. That was when Hopper was groomed into the intelligent, coachable and zone-busting tight end he is today.

Over the past two years, Hooper has matured into one of the league’s most productive tight ends. Since 2018, Hooper has caught 93.8 percent of his catchable targets according to Next Gen Stats. That ranks second amongst tight ends. That number says two things. One, he has sure hands and isn’t going to be a liability catching the ball. Second, he’s open a lot.

Though he still has work to do versus man coverage, Hooper wins versus zones because he understands technique and what opposing defenses are trying to do. Like any talented player, he reads the field like a quarterback during pre snap. That is a testament to his work ethic in the film room.

On the above play, Hooper took what he learned watching the Jacksonville defense and applied it. Atlanta is in a heavy 22 set (two backs and two tight ends). Hooper (81) motions across the formation, changing the coverage rules for the Jaguars linebackers. Notice how linebacker Austin Calitro (58) must widen to be outside Hooper.

Then at the snap, Hooper cuts inside Calitro, which is key. Had Hooper taken an outside release, Calitro likely carries with Hooper because his responsibility is the outermost threat. Since Hooper goes inside, Calitro passes him off to his other backers. Watch his hands even make a wave motion left on the tight angle view.

But Hooper stacks back on top and once he clears the second level, carries vertical before breaking out for a wide-open 25-yard corner route completion.

Just like the first play, Hooper records a 31-yard catch here because of great play design. But if Hooper wasn’t a stickler about his route depth and timing, he would’ve never been open. Every half yard matters as Hooper crosses the formation to sell his run fake.

Notice how flat he runs after quarterback Matt Ryan (2) carries out his play fake. Hooper is so parallel to the line of scrimmage that even his shoulders are square to the sideline. His textbook sell makes the Jaguars linebackers think Hooper is simply doing a poor job run blocking.

Instead, he is splitting the middle backer and getting vertical as soon as his seam opens. The play side post helps vacate this area and Hooper quickly fills it.

He’ll make the difficult red zone catch

Of course, it’s good Hooper is confident and has the hand-eye coordination necessary to cleanly catch passes. When watching his tape, he hardly ever lets the ball come into his body. Difficult, low throws are usually all his too.

Over the past two seasons, Hooper has hauled in 59 percent of his contested targets, which is second-best among tight ends. Kelce leads tight ends in total contested catches over that span with 29. The Eagles’ Zach Ertz is second with 27 and Hooper is third at 23.

He shows that “got to have it” catching ability in the video below. Facing zone coverage, Hooper once again makes a perfect release by getting wider than Saints linebacker Demario Davis (56). Because of his width, Davis cannot get hands on him or disrupt his route.

Once Hooper gets deeper than Davis, he stacks back on top and finds the sweet spot. Ryan puts a bullet on him, and Hooper pulls down the score between two defenders.

Hooper made a contested end zone grab on a similar play design Browns fans saw their tight ends drop too often last year.

What we learned

Hooper was exactly what Stefanski needs for his offense to function the way he envisions it. Berry paid top dollar for it. Which makes sense considering how weak the remaining tight end market is. The upcoming rookie class is not strong either.

The Vikings used 12 personnel on 54 percent of pass plays last season, second-most behind only the Eagles (56.5 percent) according to Pro Football Focus. David Njoku is tight end No. 2 in Cleveland now. But that doesn’t mean he’ll ride the bench like last season. He’ll have even more chances to succeed sharing the field with Hooper.

Stefanski and Berry are already building an offense with a real identity, and free agency hasn’t even technically begun yet.

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