More from Albert Breer: Frank Reich 2.0 Is Prepared for His New Start in Carolina | Takeaways: What It Will Take for Running Backs to Get Paid | New Commanders Owner Josh Harris Discusses the Work Ahead | Inside the Titans’ Recruitment of DeAndre Hopkins
The Titans’ need at receiver drove their recruitment of DeAndre Hopkins. The wild thing is, before this, the franchise’s leader in career touchdown catches was the head coach—Mike Vrabel’s 10 is more than any of his players. So there’s no question they could use someone with Hopkins’s experience, and it won’t hurt second-year man Treylon Burks to get the chance to see a former All-Pro at ground level.
That’s why the Titans did what they did to get him.
When Hopkins was on his visit in June, the team brought him to dinner. The brass got him in a suite at CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium. It was a very real recruitment, and one aimed at making sure the fit was there for both sides—and obviously that part worked out.
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Over those couple of days, the Titans felt Hopkins’s energy for the place, confirming that he’d be probably engaged for his 10th year in the league, and they learned how deep his relationships with some of the guys on their roster run. That added to what they saw on tape, which was a receiver who’s still got top-shelf hands, and one capable of being the outlet for Ryan Tannehill that the team lacked in the weeks leading up to camp.
Now, there is the issue of managing his practice workload—Hopkins, going back to Houston, has gotten allowances from his teams to take routine days off from on-the-field work during the season, as part of how he prepares his body with a lot of mileage on it up for game day each week. But Vrabel’s always helped vets in that way, so it should be less of a problem for the Titans than it might have been for others.
So does this mean Hopkins is going to turn around and catch 100 balls? No. But waiting until the start of camp, as I see it, probably would’ve opened the door up for the Chiefs to get back in—after they got Chris Jones done (we’re still waiting)—and that might not have ended well for the Titans. Doing it this way erases that risk, and helps to give an offense that still has holes (namely, along the offensive line) something to lean on, even if the line isn’t what it used to be.
(Good on Hopkins, too, for getting the money he did at this point in the calendar.)
