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1st Round- DeAndre Hopkins WR Texans

Hopkins will have a better yr than Walter ever had. IMHO

Provided that he doesn't sustain yet another concussion.

Hopkins talent is undeniable though.
 
Tennis rackets for hands, with stick em and Velcro all over them, almost like Spiderman the way he just contorts and then ;SNIKT: somehow just snags it. Cant teach that stuff, God given all the way.
 
Uncle Rico said:
Tennis rackets for hands, with stick em and Velcro all over them, almost like Spiderman the way he just contorts and then ;SNIKT: somehow just snags it. Cant teach that stuff, God given all the way.
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Uncle Rico.......

Only Tim Tebow has a worse release than you!!!! :pirate:
 
steelbtexan said:
Hopkins will have a better yr than Walter ever had. IMHO

Provided that he doesn't sustain yet another concussion.

Hopkins talent is undeniable though.
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ABSOFREAKINLUTELY!!! I liked Kevin Walter BUT he was never the danger to defenses that this rookie is!!

This guy is a true threat! Kevin Walter was serviceable at best.

Concussions are a true concern, but AJ just sustained one. I imagine he'll be just fine!!


BTW, I wanna give Walter some props! He served his time here in Houston well!!
 
steelbtexan said:
Hopkins will have a better yr than Walter ever had. IMHO

Provided that he doesn't sustain yet another concussion.

Hopkins talent is undeniable though.
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When we first drafted Hopkins, my initial reaction was that he'd have a better year than the best year that KW ever had.

Then, I thought that might be too aggressive and too hopeful. I mean, that's a 60 catch, 899 yard season. And to give him his credit, KW had 3 games in his career where he caught more than Hopkins did in this game. But KW never had more than 1 100+ yard game in a season and they were kinda few and far between.

I have a feeling Hopkins is going to demolish that.
 
The Pencil Neck said:
When we first drafted Hopkins, my initial reaction was that he'd have a better year than the best year that KW ever had.

Then, I thought that might be too aggressive and too hopeful. I mean, that's a 60 catch, 899 yard season. And to give him his credit, KW had 3 games in his career where he caught more than Hopkins did in this game. But KW never had more than 1 100+ yard game in a season and they were kinda few and far between.

I have a feeling Hopkins is going to demolish that.
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Texans probably gonna have two 1000 yard receivers. Maybe two thousand yard rushers too.
 
thunderkyss said:
Nuk...

Just doesn't sound as good as Nuke, right? I mean he's a football palyer, he's a badd a55. Nuke is more descriptive of what we want right?

I mean we could have

mushroom-cloud-hb.jpg


or this

nuk_camo_orthodontic_pacifier_B.jpg



I'm just going to call him Nuke
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Well, if it makes you feel any better, his Twitter handle is "Nukdabomb".
 
Playoffs said:
It is pronounced "nuke", like nuclear: 10 things to know about DeAndre Hopkins
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Still, number 3 says...

3. When Hopkins was an infant, the only brand of pacifier he wanted was “Nuk.” His mother nicknamed him Nuk because of that and the nickname has stayed with him to this day. It’s pronounced “nuke.”
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I can work with either meaning since (a) he catches bombs and (b) he seems to be making suckers out of opposing DBs.
:D
 
Greatest expectations are those carried by Texans' Hopkins

...
They knew and believed. They just never thought it would happen this fast.

Tommy Plumblee's first lasting memory of DeAndre Hopkins: The Texans rookie wide receiver is a quiet, skinny 10th-grader at D.W. Daniel High School in Central, S.C. Yet Hopkins is already rare and unique - a deep thinker with a wondering young mind matched only by oversized hands.

"People around the country are getting to see what we got to see on Friday nights," said Plumblee, a former Lions defensive coach and now the school's athletic director.

For the next two years, Jeff Scott heard about the Friday nights. But there was an even better Hopkins profile: a basketball artist who doubled as a defensive back/wide receiver and played just down the road from Clemson University.

"He was already a legend," said Scott, the Tigers' wide receivers coach.

After triple-extra large hands pulled down a 3-yard fade pass from quarterback Matt Schaub for a game-winning touchdown Sunday in the Texans' 30-24 overtime victory over the Titans at Reliant Stadium, Hopkins' 21-year-old name began to ring out in the NFL.

The same traits that awed his high school and college coaches - a highly athletic but graceful and contortable body; a small-town, down-home personality, rooted in familial pride and tragedy; a brain that never stops exploring and a work ethic to match - have become the foundation for looped highlight reels on "Monday Night Football," "SportsCenter" and the NFL Network.

The No. 27 overall pick of the 2013 draft has overcome a preseason concussion and the all-eyes-on-me pressure of lining up next to veteran wideout Andre Johnson, a likely Hall of Famer. After collecting a game-high 117 yards on seven receptions in just his second pro contest, Hopkins declared he can be better than Johnson - and he modestly and respectfully made the words make sense.

"We nicknamed him 'Superman' for a reason," said Randy Robinson, D.W. Daniel's football coach. "The joke around our coaching staff was he just had to go into the phone booth for the Texans."

Visionary on hardwood

The Lions didn't know who Hopkins was supposed to be when he arrived at D.W. Daniel.

Hopkins' first sports home was the hardwood. His long hands were built to dominate a basketball...
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TheMatrix31 said:
Nothing's "happened this fast."

It's been two games.

Two. ****ing. Games.
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Whuut? "It's been two games." What's that mean? Nuk is faking it? The young man looks like all of the Real Deal to me. What are you asking him to do? All game, every game heroics? Or what?

I'm not following your sentiment at all. But alas, this is not the first time.
 
You guys do realize it's Nuke's fault we didn't win the Superbowl last year, right?

Because he wasn't here.
 
Top rookie NFL receiver so far. But just like Keenum, he isn't satisfied with his play.

But the 21-year-old from Clemson remains his harshest critic.

“I give myself a two of out 10,” Hopkins said when asked to grade his performance through the bye.

Why the low mark?

“Because,” he said. “I could do a lot better.”

Hopkins is second in the NFL in receptions among rookies with 28 and is first in yards with 416. He also has two touchdown catches. Hopkins is the first player with his stat line through seven games since A.J. Green in 2011 and is the 14th player since 1960.

But those statistics didn’t change anything for the rookie.

“Numbers don’t reflect the wins that we have,” he said. “We got two wins, so I give myself a two out of 10.”

Being tough on himself is nothing new for the rookie. After the first preseason game, he was overly critical, saying he wasn’t where he wanted to be.

And that hasn’t changed during the season.

Hopkins, while sitting at his locker on Tuesday, the last day players had media availability, said he’s been replaying the third down play from early in the third quarter against the Chiefs in his head.

With the ball inside the 5-yard line, Case Keenum threw a fade to Hopkins in the end zone. The rookie went up for the ball, had it briefly, but cornerback Marcus Cooper knocked it away at the last second.

“Any ball I touch my hands on, I should catch it,” he said. “Good defense by the defender. My motto is if the ball touches my hands, I should catch it and I didn’t catch it.”
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link
 
Deandre Hopkins said:
“Any ball I touch my hands on, I should catch it,” he said. “Good defense by the defender. My motto is if the ball touches my hands, I should catch it and I didn’t catch it.”
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That's the type of motto you want your receivers to have.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Top rookie NFL receiver so far. But just like Keenum, he isn't satisfied with his play.
Hopkins is second in the NFL in receptions among rookies with 28 and is first in yards with 416. He also has two touchdown catches. Hopkins is the first player with his stat line through seven games since A.J. Green in 2011 and is the 14th player since 1960.
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link
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Good to know he isn't comparing himself to rookies.
 
We haven't scratched the surface yet on DHop. Wait until we get a QB who knows how to "throw a receiver open". Add in some back shoulder passes. He's not going to be the best WR in the NFL, but he can be top 10 with a QB. He's made a lot of little mistakes, but still shining through pretty darn good.

Master your craft, grasshopper... master your craft. :fostering:
 
JCTexan said:
That's the type of motto you want your receivers to have.
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I imagine this gets ingrained in many receivers heads early on. In HS all we ever heard as receivers is "if you can you touch you can catch it". 20 years later it has stuck with me.
 
JCTexan said:
That's the type of motto you want your receivers to have.
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Carr Bombed said:
Any NFL receiver worth his salt who is able to get both his hands on a ball will tell you he should make the catch. Was the pass perfect, no, but that's picking at straws.. it was good enough and QBs don't always make perfect passes, sometimes you just have to make a play for your QB. This comment has nothing to do with what I think about Hopkins' ability as Andre doesn't even always make the play. I'm sure Hopkins will make plenty of tougher catches in the future, it just didn't happen this time.
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This kid is going to seamlessly slip into the #1 role once Andre hangs up the cleats.. he gets it. Every receiver believes they should make the catch, but not every receiver is willing to come out and say it and put blame on themselves. Plenty will point fingers elsewhere or say nothing at all. The fact that this kid is truly down in the dumps for not making a great catch, on what was a great play by the DB, is what is going to make him a great receiver going forward. :) Out of what is now looking like a crappy draft, we definitely nailed this pick
 
Carr Bombed said:
This kid is going to seamlessly slip into the #1 role once Andre hangs up the cleats.. he gets it. Every receiver believes they should make the catch, but not every receiver is willing to come out and say it and put blame on themselves. Plenty will point fingers elsewhere or say nothing at all. The fact that this kid is truly down in the dumps for not making a great catch, on what was a great play by the DB, is what is going to make him a great receiver going forward. :) Out of what is now looking like a crappy draft, we definitely nailed this pick
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He's definitely a special player. Everyone in the NFL has ability, some guys have more of it. Hopkins is blessed with great ability, but he also has drive and the attitude that often is the difference between a good player and a great player. I'm excited to have him as a Texan.
 
TexansSeminole said:
He honestly pushed off there but your point still stands. His has good enough speed to beat people.
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Michael Irvin had a HOF career doing that. He called it "creating space" and was a master of it as he also wasn't the fastest guy. The thing about offensive players is people read to much into their 40 times.. 40 times matter more in defensive players as they need to be more reactive. The offensive player already knows what he wants to run and where he's going to run before the play is even snapped (proactive) and that's accounts for a good one tenth of a second (advantage is always to the offense).

His long strides and route running eats up ground (ala Foster). The guy flat out has a uncanny ability to get open and the ability to create a window. (route running, which is a VERY RARE commodity with young WRs.. that's usually the last battle and he already has it.) He just needs a QB who can recognize when he's open before Andre goes out with a injury...

P.S. Andre needs the same type of QB.. hence why a HOF type of WR has never recorded a single double digit TD season in his career... which will be his biggest knock if he comes up short of HOF recognition. Andre has played with crap QBs when you think about it.. think of his prime.. think of his prime with a QB like Brees, Brady, or Brees.. think about that for a second. It
s sad.
 
Carr Bombed said:
Michael Irvin had a HOF career doing that. He called it "creating space" and was a master of it as he also wasn't the fastest guy. The thing about offensive players is people read to much into their 40 times.. 40 times matter more in defensive players as they need to be more reactive. The offensive player already knows what he wants to run and where he's going to run before the play is even snapped (proactive) and that's accounts for a good one tenth of a second (advantage is always to the offense).

His long strides and route running eats up ground (ala Foster). The guy flat out has a uncanny ability to get open and the ability to create a window. (route running, which is a VERY RARE commodity with young WRs.. that's usually the last battle and he already has it.) He just needs a QB who can recognize when he's open before Andre goes out with a injury...

P.S. Andre needs the same type of QB.. hence why a HOF type of WR has never recorded a single double digit TD season in his career... which will be his biggest knock if he comes up short of HOF recognition. Andre has played with crap QBs when you think about it.. think of his prime.. think of his prime with a QB like Brees, Brady, or Brees.. think about that for a second. It
s sad.
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The 40 Yard Dash can be broken down into 3 distinct parts: the Drive, the Transition, and Top Speed. The Drive is basically the first 7 steps or so right off the line. Good form is to explode out of the line at a 45 degree angle. Bad form is to jump straight up, and then run forward. The Transition is the middle part of the sprint. This phase is kind of like 2nd-4th gear in a car. You are basically just trying to get up to top speed.

Top Speed is a little bit of a misnomer because sprinters usually cannot achieve top speed in 40 yards. Most athletes don't reach maximum top speed until at least 55 yards. For this reason, good form is to pretend like you are running a 60 yard dash so that you are continuing to accelerate THROUGH the finish line. This fact explains why some players have what is called "deep speed". Some players like Terrell Owens may not have been fast between 0-40 yards, but between 40-60 yards they start to run past cornerbacks. And this is another reason why Usain Bolt's (the Jamiacan world class sprinter) top speed of 27 miles per hour occurs AFTER the first 40 yards.

So for WRs, it is many times much more important what they can do AFTER 40 yds.

If you ask most people, "Why does the NFL use the 40 yd time to evaluate players........where did it come from?", they won't be able to tell you. Well, certainly the 40 yard dash has long been a way of evaluating the speed of football players by scouts for the NFL Draft..........and the origin actually comes from the average distance of a punt being ~40 yards.
 
TexansSeminole said:
He honestly pushed off there but your point still stands. His has good enough speed to beat people.
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Somewhere fifteen yards or so beyond the LOS, Hopkins turned to look at the ball. It looks to me like he was selling the CB an intermediate route. This is the normal break where the receiver can either go inside or outside.
The CB bought it too; he turned and looked at the ball.
Undoubtedly, in doing so, he lost some speed and got beat as Hopkins only one thought in mind, and that was going deep.
IMO, this is why it doesn't pay for the DB to try to locate the ball when he doesn't have the route "secured" yet.
 
He's on apace for around 64 catches for 955 yards this year and 4-5 TDS.
If you'd have asked me at the beginning of the season if I'd take that, the answer would have been hell yes.
 
michaelm said:
He's on apace for around 64 catches for 955 yards this year and 4-5 TDS.
If you'd have asked me at the beginning of the season if I'd take that, the answer would have been hell yes.
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If Schaub is out of the picture, then all of our "conservative" predictions can go out the window as well. The 30 catch predictions were predicated more on Schaub than the rookie.
 
thunderkyss said:
If Schaub is out of the picture, then all of our "conservative" predictions can go out the window as well. The 30 catch predictions were predicated more on Schaub than the rookie.
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And didn't prove to be reality when Schaub was in there either.

With Schaub, Hopkins was on pace for 87 rec., 101 tgts and 907 yds.
 
76Texan said:
Somewhere fifteen yards or so beyond the LOS, Hopkins turned to look at the ball. It looks to me like he was selling the CB an intermediate route. This is the normal break where the receiver can either go inside or outside.
The CB bought it too; he turned and looked at the ball.
Undoubtedly, in doing so, he lost some speed and got beat as Hopkins only one thought in mind, and that was going deep.
IMO, this is why it doesn't pay for the DB to try to locate the ball when he doesn't have the route "secured" yet.
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I rather have our DB play the ball everytime for a couple of reasons :
1) If the pass is under thrown you give yourself a chance for an int or at least a PD.
2) If under thrown you eliminate yourself from PI.
If it's a perfectly thrown pass like the Hopkins then you pretty much screw anyway. Tip your hat to them and force them to do it again.

Being a great defensive team means forcing the offense to play a perfect game to beat you. If the QB is having issues with his accuracy then you don't bail them out with pass interference. (Looking at you, Kareem Jackson.)
 
klockWork said:
I rather have our DB play the ball everytime for a couple of reasons :
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Unless the corner is beat, he should be looking for the ball. In that situation, the corner failed to locate the ball.

If he's beat, the corner needs to play the hands, looking for the ball is only going to get him more beat.

But I see '76s point. The receiver still has to make the catch if that CB stayed on his man, he would have had an opportunity to prevent Hopkins from making the catch.... the ball was placed very well, he had no shot there. But if he were close enough to tackle Hopkins, DeAndre may not have maintained possession, or even a push.... Hopkins would have had a tougher time getting both feet down.

But since that guy got lost looking for the ball, DeAndre caught it unchallenged.
 
At least, get last the 17-18 yards cut-off where the receiver's cut is in effect.
At that point, the DB can be sure that it's a deep route; in the meantime, the DB can try to squeeze the receiver a little more toward the sideline.
 
thunderkyss said:
since that guy got lost looking for the ball, DeAndre caught it unchallenged.
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That's a gamble worth taking. Their cb force our QB to make a perfect pass which Hopkins caught it in full stride. Even if Smith ran with him all the way he would still have to time his play on the ball or his man, and not knowing where or when Hopkins would raise his hands would make the task that much more difficult.

Being stride for stride with a receiver doesn't guarantee a DB can make a play if he doesn't know where or when the ball would come down. At least if he played the ball the only way he get beat is by a perfect pass. If he play his man he can get beat by a well-placed pass, he could get beat by him suddenly stopping and jumping back to get the ball, OR get beat by being called for running into the receiver.

In the NFL a deep pass hitting a receiver in full stride is very rare. Either the ball it's over or under thrown. In this league a DB has to use that number in his favor by playing the ball.
 
If you look at all or most of the top corners in the NFL ie; Revis or Sherman most their pass break ups are from them playing the ball. BTW, the separation that Hopkins got from Smith was not just by because the cb lost the ball, it's by the rookie hitting it in fourth gear. Dude has back pocket speed. He will be a beast.
 
klockWork said:
That's a gamble worth taking.

Being stride for stride with a receiver doesn't guarantee a DB can make a play if he doesn't know where or when the ball would come down. At least if he played the ball the only way he get beat is by a perfect pass. If he play his man he can get beat by a well-placed pass, he could get beat by him suddenly stopping and jumping back to get the ball, OR get beat by being called for running into the receiver.
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I'd be irate if that was one of our CBs. Unless a safety totally blew his responsibility, there's no way he should have allowed Hop to get behind him like that.

He's beat.

If he's beat he needs to be working on catching up, not looking for an underthrown ball.

Again..... I don't have a problem with a DB playing the ball, unless he's beat. If he is beat, he has no business looking for the ball.

Time for gambling is over. At the time that guy looked for the ball he's hoping the QB doesn't see this wide open guy in the end zone.
 
Just trying to get this discussion out of the Swearinger thread.

Vinny said:
I guess you didn't watch many Viking games then. He was more impressive in every way over Hopkins. Plenty of nice plays from scrimmage and for extra credit you can enjoy the rac that Hopkins only dreams about at 2:17 where he takes the pitch lined up as a rb from the I formation and scores. Reality and versitility trumps imagination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Y9Tee8vbs
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I guess it all depends on what you're looking for from your players.

So far, I don't see Cordarrelle Patterson as a WR. That's fine, he was a rookie & normally it takes a while for a rookie to establish himself as a WR.

I am old school & to me, a WR is your deep threats, I want to see 14+ ypc. It doesn't matter to me whether it's YAC, or just catching the ball 14+ yards down the field.

Well, Wes Welker doesn't get a 14+ ypc, never has, & he's clearly a WR...

So clearly there are exceptions to the rule. But I'd never acquire Wes Welker, consistently line him up outside & expect him to stretch the field.

Maybe Patterson can become that type of player, but there aren't a lot of those guys that are successful in the NFL for very long... I wouldn't use a first round pick on them. Darren Sproles & Wes Welker are the only two that I would consider as successful over a long period of time. You've got Percy Harvin & Dexter McCluster, but they've got to put some time in... & I'd really like to see Wes Welker continue his streak outside of New England, because while he was a great role player in Miami, I never thought he would have the success he had, or become that focal point of an offense like he did in New England.

So yeah, if you're looking for a Percy Harvin type football player, Patterson is probably that guy & he had a great rookie season being that guy. But if you're looking for a WR, someone to stretch the field & make the defense honor every blade of grass... DeAndre is much better at that than Percy Harvin (which would be like having a running back with 500 yards receiving... but if we get a healthy Arian back... )
 
steelbtexan said:
They also have/had guys with world class speed to stretch the field. (Moss/Bethel Johnson/Slater etc.... Who is currently on the roster with that kind of speed at any position including ST's? Johnson was a gunner/KR/PR guy. Slater is one of the best ST's guys in the NFL.

Also the Pats have had a RB in each of the 5 yr cycles that are very fast and contribute on ST's Faulk/Woodhead/Vereen.

So yes, the Pats have a system but they adapt their system to fit their players. This is the reason I think a Sims/Archer would be great fits in BOB's offense.
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I don't know about that. Seems like you're saying they adapt the production they get out of the players... WRs stretch the field, with the exception of Welker, who was used more like a Joker TE...

To me, if you've got an offense where your best WR averages less than 13 ypc, then you've got a problem at WR. They aren't performing their function. We were looking for someone who would force the secondary to think about someone other than Andre Johnson. DeAndre does that. Patterson may be able to do that & in our system, maybe he would have. But his performance in 2013 doesn't lead you to believe that.

In the future, if his numbers get closer to 13 ypc then I'll say we made a mistake (if DeAndre's numbers fall).

But you're right, it depends on what you want from the players you pick.
 
thunderkyss said:
I don't know about that. Seems like you're saying they adapt the production they get out of the players... WRs stretch the field, with the exception of Welker, who was used more like a Joker TE...

To me, if you've got an offense where your best WR averages less than 13 ypc, then you've got a problem at WR. They aren't performing their function. We were looking for someone who would force the secondary to think about someone other than Andre Johnson. DeAndre does that. Patterson may be able to do that & in our system, maybe he would have. But his performance in 2013 doesn't lead you to believe that.

In the future, if his numbers get closer to 13 ypc then I'll say we made a mistake (if DeAndre's numbers fall).

But you're right, it depends on what you want from the players you pick.
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I want players other teams fear.

Do defenses really fear Hopkins?

Do they fear Patterson ?
 
steelbtexan said:
I want players other teams fear.

Do defenses really fear Hopkins?

Do they fear Patterson ?
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They don't fear patterson either. To me, Hunter is that dude. He's a tall,fast guy with hands. He will never probably be a 90rec guys,but he will be a 70 rec 1200 yd type.
 
steelbtexan said:
I want players other teams fear.

Do defenses really fear Hopkins?

Do they fear Patterson ?
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If we get a QB that will throw him a good fade pass in the endzone, they dang sure will. Schaub's unwillingness to look for him (often enough) in this regard was probably part of his downfall.
 
Yeah, he's an adult and hopefully he'll take hold of the situation in his own hands..... and this time it won't end up in a picture posted to twitter.
 
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