'Vintage' DeAndre Hopkins could be bad news for rest of the AFC
Through two-plus weeks of training camp, newly signed Tennessee Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been as advertised.
The 31-year-old wideout has routinely made highlight-reel plays and his presence has elevated the rest of the team’s group of pass catchers. In fact, if you ask quarterback Ryan Tannehill, the Hopkins he’s seen so far in camp is the same guy who was a four-time All-Pro selection and went to four straight Pro Bowls from 2017 to 2020.
"He's been a big addition," Tannehill told NFL Network on Tuesday. "We've seen some huge plays from him. Vintage Hopkins that you've seen across his career of tight, contested catches when he's able to elevate or make the extended catch. So, as a quarterback, it's been a lot of fun to find those areas where I can put the ball where only he can get it and then he's making the play."
While Tennessee had a laissez-faire offseason until it signed the Clemson alum, pairing Hopkins with second-year receivers Treylon Burks and Kyle Philips plus second-year tight end Chig Okonkwo may just make the team’s passing attack respectable again.
Burks is seemingly at the top of every NFL pundit’s list of 2023 breakout players, and many expect him to take a huge step forward in his development with a clean bill of health and (no offense to Robert Woods) a complementary receiver that makes opposing defenses sweat a little bit.
Okonkwo showed glimpses of All-Pro potential as a rookie, and with Austin Hooper out of the picture, the 23-year-old ex-Maryland star is poised to make a Delanie Walker-like impact in the passing game.
Since his rookie year, Hopkins has never had fewer than 75 catches or 950 yards in any season he’s played 15 or more games. Though Hopkins hasn’t played a full season in two years, he’s given no indication that he’s any less effective than he’s always been. He was on-pace for 120 receptions, 1,354 yards and six touchdowns last year if his nine games of production were translated over a full 17-game season.
Now reuniting with offensive coordinator Tim Kelly, who was his OC in his final season with the Houston Texans when he logged 104 receptions on 150 targets, 1,165 yards and seven scores and was named a First Team All-Pro for the first time, Hopkins has singlehandedly brought the Titans WR group out of the doldrums and made them legitimate.
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