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Five-time All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was cut this offseason as the Arizona Cardinals are rebuilding, and there was a big debate about who would sign him.
The Tennessee Titans ended up being the winners of the D-Hop sweepstakes. Their two-year, $26 million bid was $2 million per year less than what Odell Beckham Jr. received from the Baltimore Ravens but they could pay him more in the long term.
Does Hopkins still have enough in the tank to be a WR1 in fantasy football? There are reasons for optimism and reasons for doubt.
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Is DeAndre Hopkins a Good Fit with the Tennessee Titans?
The Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans are very different teams in terms of build and philosophy. The Cardinals under former coach Kliff Kingsbury's air raid offense threw the ball at a high rate. In 2022, the Cardinals ranked fourth in passing attempts and 18th in passing yards. In 2021, they ranked 18th in attempts and 10th in passing yards. During every year of Kingsbury's tenure, the Cardinals ranked No. 18 or better in passing attempts.
The Titans, on the other hand, are a run-heavy team with bruising All-Pro running back Derrick Henry being the focus of their offense. Henry has averaged 109.9 yards rushing per game over the past four seasons, and coach Mike Vrabel has no compunction against giving him over 25 carries per game. The Titans have ranked in the top 10 for rushing attempts in four of Vrabel's five seasons at the helm while ranking No. 30 or 31 in pass attempts in four seasons.
So it is a good bet that DeAndre Hopkins will see fewer targets in a Titans uniform than the 160 targets he had thrown to him in his one full season as a Cardinal. He might also see less effective quarterback play.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray had a higher completion percentage than Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill in each of the past three seasons. Murray has been known for throwing a more accurate deep ball than Tannehill for most of his career. The former No. 1 overall pick did not play well last year, however, and there has been some discussion that Murray is falling off. But he only played with Hopkins for three full games last season. In those games, he threw for more air yards per attempt than in the games without him.
The Titans might bench the veteran for a rookie quarterback during the season. The 34-year-old Tannehill is in the final year of his contract, and the Titans drafted quarterbacks in each of the past two years. While they appear to be done with Malik Willis, they traded up to take Will Levis at the start of the second round this year.
The overall trajectory for Hopkins in Tennessee should be a downgrade compared to the situation he had running hot routes in Arizona. However, Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans are definitely an upgrade over the Colt McCoy-led Cardinals team he would have played for if he had not been cut (any team would be!). Let's just say I'd rather see Nuk in a different shade of red and yellow.
DeAndre Hopkins 2023 Fantasy Football Outlook
In addition to the question of his situation, there's also the question of DeAndre Hopkins' age and continuing ability to produce. He will be 31 years old this season, and he hasn't played a full season since 2020.
Last season, he missed the final two games with a knee strain after missing the first six due to suspension. In 2021, nagging hamstring injuries cost him seven games.
His productivity when he has been on the field, while still excellent, is gradually slipping. Even in his first year in Arizona, he could not match the nearly 100 yards per game he recorded at his peak in Houston in 2018. After going for 87.9 yards per game in 2020, he declined to 57.2 yards per game in 2021 and 79.7 yards per game in 2022.
He averaged 16.9 PPR points per game last season, No. 11, and 9.7 points per game in standard scoring, the 15th-most. Sadly, the days of DeAndre Hopkins being a solid WR1 may be long gone.
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