Can Austin Hooper bounce back in year two in Cleveland?
When the 2020 NFL offseason kicked off, the Cleveland Browns made a big splash signing Jack Conklin and Austin Hooper quickly. Conklins level of play stayed high while Hooper wasnt able to do the same. Limited by an injury, Hooper only played in 13 games in 2020 where he caught 46 passes for 435 yards and four touchdowns. The previous year, with the Atlanta Falcons, Hooper also only played in 13 games but caught 75 passes for 787 yards and six touchdowns. There were two big differences between Hoopers last year in Atlanta and first year in Cleveland. The first was that he had 97 targets in 2019 but only 70 in 2020. The second, and most important, is his connection with Matt Ryan in Atlanta for all four years of his NFL career and then trying to get comfortable with Baker Mayfield during a COVID-19 limited 2020 season. Hooper is looking forward to more time with Mayfield and less limitations in the offseason leading to him bouncing back in 2021. Its like any relationship  youve just got to keep working on it and keep understanding each other, Hooper said in an interview on the Jim Rome Show last week. Baker, being the guy whos my age and has been at similar points in our lives, its been awesome. Hes a young, hungry guy who wants to work, and its been awesome and Im really grateful.  With no offseason and everything that led up to training camp, (head coach Kevin) Stefanski definitely had to keep it pretty vanilla until about halfway through the year when we really understood (the schemes), Hooper said. After having the full year where we laid it all out there, this is where we can have some more fun with it and add some wrinkles now that weve built a good foundation together.  While Hooper may never get a chance at 1,000 yards due to the Browns depth of talented playmakers, he has a chance to still be an important part of the offense. Last year, Hooper was second in receiving first downs with 27 behind Jarvis Landrys 46 and just ahead of Rashard Higgins (26). He also tied for second with four receiving touchdowns behind Kareem Hunt. Hooper and the Browns would like to see both of those numbers go up in 2021 along with a few more explosive receptions leading to a bigger yardage total. For now, Hooper is looking forward to the challenge.