After an excellent first season (115/1,407/6) with the Cardinals, DeAndre Hopkins sat out eight games (including the postseason) with hamstring and knee issues last season. He failed to gain over 90 yards in any of his 10 starts, and surprisingly, Hopkins averaged only 5.7 targets over the first nine weeks (10.4 from 2017-20 over 62 games). He finished with 42 catches for 572 yards and eight scores.
Hopkins has six seasons with over 1,100 yards receiving while having a floor of 100 catches four times in his nine-year career. In May, the NFL suspended him for six games for taking a performance-enhancing drug. Hopkins is taking the position that he didn’t “inhale,” but he dropped his appeal.
Fantasy outlook: When on the field, Hopkins has the resume to be a top-10 wideout. In early July, his ADP (65) in the NFFC priced him as a top-tier WR3 (ranked 25th). With similar success as his previous three seasons over 11 matchups, Hopkins looks to be on a path to catch 78 passes for 975 yards and six touchdowns or 211.50 fantasy points in PPR formats (19.23 per game). The trick is pairing him with a viable wide receiver to reach the highest ceiling with combined points. Hopkins is the right kind of gamble as he will make your team better when the most critical fantasy games are being played.
