Now that the adrenaline and raw happiness from yesterday’s breaking news has finally settled down, it’s time to take a step back and look at the several different ways in which signing All-Pro wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, positively impacts the Tennessee Titans’ offense.
Many are seriously downplaying the type of impact this move could potentially have on the Titans’ offense.
The detractors are ignorantly assuming this move is destined for failure solely because of previous failed attempts at trying to get the most out of a 30-year-old future Hall of Fame wide receiver.
However, in reality, these situations are entirely different.
RIP: 2023, DeAndre Hopkins career.
Tennessee is where receivers go to die.
He should’ve gone to KC or Philly and played with competent quarterbacks and have a chance to win a ring.
(Also if he would have played well with Mahomes or Hurts and got a ring, he would get PAID…
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) July 16, 2023
Via my friend @DaveKluge, the truth is in the pudding pic.twitter.com/sWtkMcFwrp
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) July 16, 2023
When Andre Johnson was signed by the Titans, he was coming off a season where he averaged around 32 yards per game.
Randy Moss was claimed off waivers in the middle of the season after being traded by the Patriots and subsequently cut by the Vikings within a span of six weeks.
Then you have Julio Jones, who was already showing major signs of decline in his health when the Titans decided to take their chance and sign him in order to take that next step.
Hopkins doesn’t have anything close to the injury concerns that Jones had, and he is coming off a season where he averaged nearly 80 yards per game and was on pace for another 1,300-yard (or more) season had he not been suspended for more than 35 percent of the campaign.
Adding to that, the Cardinals’ starting quarterback, Kyler Murray, missed four of those nine games and exited another one after throwing a single pass.
Per @ESPNStatsInfo last season @DeAndreHopkins only had ONE drop on 95 targets. The catch below is an example of how he makes QBs right. This should have been an INT instead it's a completion. https://t.co/4WdgP3JRB6
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) July 17, 2023
This move definitely has its risks, but the potential benefits far outweigh the concerns that would’ve been there had the Titans not secured the services of the superstar pass-catcher.
This article is going to discuss five different ways in which D-Hop makes the Titans better the second he arrives in Nashville. Let’s get to it.
Takes pressure off Treylon Burks
Prior to signing Hopkins, the team had been expected to rely heavily on second-year wide receiver, Treylon Burks. Regardless if he may or may not have been ready for that type of role, it was undoubtedly going to be a tall task for the Arkansas product.
To say that Tennessee had questionable help behind Burks on the receiver depth chart would be putting it mildly. The Titans entered the day with only one wide receiver on their roster who had eclipsed at least 500 yards in a single season over the span of their entire career (Chris Moore).
That obviously changes the second Hopkins officially signs on the dotted line.
It could also be a franchise altering addition if it hits. Too many people ignore that possibility and immediately focus on the negative part of it.
Yes, it’s risky. But Considering he’s the only realistic option with that type of upside, I’ll take that gamble every single time.
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) June 8, 2023
More importantly, Tennessee desperately needed to get another alpha opposite of Burks to truly maximize the potential of this offense.
Hopkins’ presence will immediately allow Burks to take on No. 2 corners, which should prove to be a massive difference-maker for the second-year wideout, who was expected to face bracket coverages and/or No. 1 cornerbacks on a consistent basis had the team not made a move of this magnitude.
Then, in an ideal world, if Burks starts balling out D-Hop will be the one who has the luxury of being able to take advantage of his matchups against the type of mostly inferior defensive backs he’s seldom faced in the past.
The two of them have the talent and potential to be one of the better wide receiver tandems in the league by year’s end if everything goes according to plan.
I don’t have much faith in anybody else in the WR room (for now), but I fully believe Treylon Burks is about to go bonkers in year 2 as long as he stays on the field#Titans pic.twitter.com/7vcTBenzBU
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) June 20, 2023
Takes pressure off Derrick Henry
There’s no denying that this Titans offense will most likely once again revolve around Derrick Henry. However, Hopkins’ addition will undeniably be mutually beneficial for both of the Titans’ All-Pro playmakers.
We’ve seen first hand what type of production Henry is capable of whenever he’s complemented by a competent passing attack like he was in 2019 and 2020. Hell, he’s even been productive without one (2022).
Opposing defenses will often find themselves in a bind where they have to choose whether they should help the backend with covering Hopkins and Burks, or if they should bring another defender in the box to help with Henry.
On the flip side, Hopkins has never played with anything close to what Henry is capable of out of the backfield.
Ever since #Titans RB Derrick Henry’s legendary breakout game against the Jags (Week 14, 2018), Henry has produced UNBELIEVABLE numbers over his last 64 games played:
👑: 7,175 Rushing Yards
👑: 925 Receiving Yards
👑: 8,100 Total Yards
👑: 66 Rushing TDs
👑: 71 Total TDs pic.twitter.com/vkMQKjzMYi— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) June 21, 2023
We all know about The King’s production, but the constant attention he requires on a down-by-down basis could be a true game-changer for the Clemson legend.
Because of the type of respect that Henry commands, D-Hop could suddenly find himself facing plenty of one-on-one matchups throughout the year, and even more so whenever Tennessee opts to go with a play-action pass due to the fact that it’s going to force defenders to make crucial live decisions as to whether or not they should commit to the run.
That type of hesitation could be deadly for someone like Henry because it immediately puts him at an advantage since defenders won’t have the luxury of playing as fast as they would undoubtedly prefer.
Instead, they’ll be worried about trying to diagnose whether the upcoming play is another run to the mammoth ball carrier or if the team is just trying to manipulate them so Tennessee can get Hopkins and Co. behind the defense.
That might not sound like much, but the second you can get the defense to think on their feet instead of playing instinctively, you’ve already won the rep more often than not.
As long as the two future Hall of Famers stay healthy, they should easily feast off each other in 2023.
Opens things up for Chig and Philips over the middle
Two others who could seriously benefit from everything we’ve already covered are the Titans’ fourth and fifth-round picks from a year ago.
Chigoziem Okonkwo is coming off a season where he finished with the highest overall grade by a rookie tight end (75.4) after leading all of his peers in receiving yards (450) and touchdowns (three), even though he was mostly relegated to a limited role for the majority of the season.
Chig also led all tight ends in yards per route run (2.61) while also finishing third among all pass-catchers, regardless of position. In addition, he ranked third in receiving grade (84.6) among tight ends, per Pro Football Focus.
To put his eye-opening production into better perspective, over the last five years, Okonkwo is one of five players to produce at least the following:
- 0.35 EPA/target
- 7.9 YAC/reception
- 30 receptions
The other four players to accomplish this feat were: Ja’Marr Chase (2021), Deebo Samuel (2021), A.J. Brown (2019), and George Kittle (2018).
As for Philips, you could make an argument that he was the star of last year’s training camp, and that ultimately carried over to his impressive Week 1 performance against the Giants.
Unfortunately, he was banged up from that point on and we didn’t get to see much more of him throughout the year.
Should he remain healthy, Philips has the potential to become a lethal and reliable chain mover out of the slot. With Burks and Hopkins on the outside, both Okonkwo and Philips should be able to attack the middle of the field with relative ease whenever all four of them are on the field at once.
It’s hard to argue that the two young pass-catchers’ impact/hype in fantasy football probably took a hit following Hopkins’ arrival, but I think it’s a safe bet that they’ll personally embrace that trade-off when it leads to a bunch of easier looks in the fall.
Mentoring young wide receivers
Excluding Hopkins, the Titans’ crop of receivers have only combined for 16 touchdowns between the 12 of them.
To add some perspective to that total, Titans head coach and former linebacker, Mike Vrabel, has 10 receiving touchdowns of his own despite only being targeted 14 times over the course of his career, per Statmuse.
The majority of that group is obviously very young, but fortunately for the youngsters, they now have someone credible in the room who can not only lead the unit on the field, but also happens to be someone who will be an invaluable addition to the team in both the meeting room and practice field.
Adding a proven wideout
It’s no secret that the Titans severely struggled in the passing game last season.
Outside of Burks, the Titans really had no true passing threat out wide. To make matters worse, the second-year wideout missed a handful of games, which essentially crippled the passing attack further.
The Titans’ returning receivers are coming off a season in which they combined for a measly 69 catches, 962 yards and four touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Hopkins joins the team having individually produced higher numbers in all three of those major categories in six of his10 seasons as a professional receiver.
A sign of just how much Hopkins revamps #Titans WR room:
–Team’s returning WRs combined for 69 catches, 962 yards and 4 TDs last year.
–Hopkins has topped all 3 numbers by himself in 6 of 10 seasons.— John Glennon (@glennonsports) July 16, 2023
Signing the Clemson product instantly provides some much-needed stability to the one position that truly needed it most.
A major boost for Ryan Tannehill
Poor Ryan Tannehill, when he wasn’t getting eaten alive by opposing pass rushes due to terrible blocking in 2022, he couldn’t find an open receiver because the group lacked the ability to separate, which in turn gave those same pass rushes more time to get to him even when the blocking was adequate.
Of course, not having Treylon Burks for six games was part of the problem, but the unit as a whole simply wasn’t good enough to get open on a regular basis with guys like Robert Woods and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine being featured.
Having Hopkins in the fold obviously helps changed that, and we have the numbers to prove it, courtesy of Player Profiler.
Reasons DeAndre Hopkins isn’t washed:
🥇 5.71 Average Cushion 1st
🥈 43.4% Air Yard Share – 2nd
🥈 47% Win Rate Vs Man – 2nd
4️⃣ 51.8% Route Win Rate – 4th
4️⃣ 29.4% Target Share – 4thElite Separator. Elite Target Commander. Elite Receiver.#Titanspic.twitter.com/dPWf75LQFd
— PlayerProfiler (@rotounderworld) July 17, 2023
Now, as our Mike Moraitis wrote on Monday morning, the Titans still have things to figure out upfront, but the addition of Hopkins at least solves one of the issues that led to Tannehill taking a beating and the offense struggling.
Despite some of the ignorant takes out there, Tannehill has proven he can be a good quarterback when he has the adequate pieces around him.
Tannehill now has those in the receiving corps., and if the Titans can vastly improve their blocking upfront while continuing to get potent play from the rushing attack, there’s no reason Tannehill and this offense can’t return to 2019 and 2020 levels.
More versatility in the passing game
While the expectation is Philips will be the main slot guy, Hopkins is also capable of playing there, and in fact he did so quite often during his days under Tim Kelly in Houston.
I like the Hopkins/Burks/Chig trio for TEN.
When Tim Kelly became OC in Houston in 2019, Hopkins played inside at a higher rate. Wouldn't be surprised if we see a lot of him in the slot this year. https://t.co/CsNaF9eO3Z
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) July 16, 2023
Like Hopkins, Burks is also capable of playing out wide and in the slot, and when you combine that with Chig’s ability to play in different spots, you have a group of pass-catchers that gives Kelly no shortage of versatility, which will no doubt make things harder on opposing defenses.
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