On Sunday, July 17, it was announced that former Arizona Cardinals All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins would be signing with the Tennessee Titans.
The deal is for two years, $32 million with $26 million guaranteed; in the end D-Hop, who was hoping to land with a Super Bowl contender, took the money deal over playing for a contender.
The Titans aren’t a bad team. In fact, they were one year removed from being the top seed in the AFC when they fell off last season, ending with a loss to the Jaguars in a winner-take-all finale and missing the playoffs.
Hopkins will now join a Titans team whose strength is running the football with star tailback Derrick Henry, and stopping the run on defense. FS1s Emmanuel Acho believes the Henry and D-Hop combo could do damage in Nashville. In a video posted not long after the Hopkins announcement, Acho seemed excited for what Hopkins could do with Henry forcing teams to load the box.
Hopkins Will Get A Ton Of Chances Versus Man Coverage
With a team as run-heavy as the Titans, teams always look to stop Henry first. Hopkins will be the beneficiary of that in 2023.
“DeAndre Hopkins to the Tennessee Titans, it makes all the sense… Imagine what Hopkins can do in Tennessee when he will only see single coverage. Why? Because Derrick Henry is still there. And as long as Derrick Henry is commanding a heavy-box being how many defenders are close to the line of scrimmage, then DeAndre Hopkins will get one-on-one coverage.”
“Hop could go to a place where he might have more collective team success, but where will he make the biggest impact? Is the Tennessee Titans.”
Acho is probably correct. He could’ve definitely helped the Bills, Chiefs or Patriots, but those teams are better at the skill positions than the Titans. So, Hopkins’ impact will be greater down in Nashville.
Hopkins Should Help Ryan Tannehill And Treylon Burks
Another reason why Hopkins to Tennessee makes sense is he’ll immediately help quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who’s a serviceable starter but needs talent around him. But, D-Hop’s biggest impact could be on second-year wideout Treylon Burks, who was a first-round pick in 2022, and picked to replace former star wideout A.J. Brown, who was traded to the Eagles on draft night 2022.
Burks showed flashes of what made him a first-round pick last season, but with him only finishing with 33 receptions for 444 yards and one touchdown. With Hopkins now in the fold, Burks will no longer draw the opposing team’s top corner, or the multiple coverages designed to take away the Titans top receiving threat.
That will now fall on Hopkins, who’s made a career out of putting up numbers against all types of defenses and coverages.
