The Return Of DeAndre Hopkins
DeAndre Hopkins had nearly 50% of his team’s receptions (ten out of 20 total), yards (103 out of 204), and targets (14 out of 29) in Thursday’s victory over the Saints.
After much anticipation from Cardinals fans, star wide receiver DeAndre “Nuk” Hopkins finally returned from his six-game suspension this week. His return couldn’t have come at a better time for the Cardinals who placed WR Marquise Brown on the IR as a result of the non-surgical fracture in his foot he sustained last week. Luckily for Arizona, Hopkins made it known he is still WR1 on this roster in Week Seven and the Cardinals could not be happier he is back.
“Nuk” Makes Presence Known In First Game Back
Hopkins was just the spark Kyler Murray and the Cardinal’s offense needed on Thursday in their 42-34 victory over the New Orleans Saints. The Cardinals scored 42 points, but a lot of credit has to be given to their defense, too, which had two pick-sixes on Andy Dalton in the first half. The defensive turnovers and return of DeAndre Hopkins were enough for the Cardinals to get their first home win of the season, improving their record to 3-4 overall. DeAndre Hopkins instantly connected with Kyler Murray and didn’t appear to have any rust coming off of his suspension. Hopkins was targeted early and often in the game, recording ten receptions for 103 yards on 14 targets. To put his dominant performance and importance to the offense into perspective, the Cardinals’ second-leading receiver in the game was Rondale Moore with one reception for 31 yards. Every time Murray stepped back to pass, it was safe to assume he was looking Hopkins’ way, yet the Saint’s defense was still barely able to stop him.
<img decoding="async" width="880" height="587" src="https://i0.wp.com/stadiumrant.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2022/09/05a82f10-0bb2-4f1d-b9bf-c634b19e3f6c-AP_49ers_Cardinals_Football.jpg?resize=880%2C587&ssl=1" alt="DeAndre Hopkins" class="wp-image-271 lazyload" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/stadiumrant.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2022/09/05a82f10-0bb2-4f1d-b9bf-c634b19e3f6c-AP_49ers_Cardinals_Football.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/stadiumrant.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2022/09/05a82f10-0bb2-4f1d-b9bf-c634b19e3f6c-AP_49ers_Cardinals_Football.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/stadiumrant.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2022/09/05a82f10-0bb2-4f1d-b9bf-c634b19e3f6c-AP_49ers_Cardinals_Football.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/stadiumrant.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2022/09/05a82f10-0bb2-4f1d-b9bf-c634b19e3f6c-AP_49ers_Cardinals_Football.jpg?resize=500%2C333&ssl=1 500w, https://i0.wp.com/stadiumrant.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2022/09/05a82f10-0bb2-4f1d-b9bf-c634b19e3f6c-AP_49ers_Cardinals_Football.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/stadiumrant.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2022/09/05a82f10-0bb2-4f1d-b9bf-c634b19e3f6c-AP_49ers_Cardinals_Football.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px" data-recalc-dims="1" />
DeAndre Hopkins History With The Cardinals
The Cardinals’ trade for DeAndre Hopkins was arguably their best trade in franchise history. Let’s revisit the trade:
Houston Texans received:
RB David Johnson
2020 2nd Round Pick
2020 4th Round Pick
Arizona Cardinals received:
WR DeAndre Hopkins
2020 4th Round Pick
The following 2020 season with the Cardinals, Hopkins went on to have one of the best years of his illustrious career. In 2021, his season was cut short to 10 games due to a sprained MCL. His numbers were a bit down compared to past seasons, but he was still relatively effective when he played, particularly in the red zone. Here are Hopkins’ stats during those two seasons with the Cardinals.
2020: 16 games, 115 receptions, 160 targets, 1,407 yards, and six touchdowns 2021: ten games, 42 receptions, 64 targets, 572 yards, and eight touchdowns
What to Expect From Hopkins This Season
It’s only one game and obviously such a small sample size, but we can still be optimistic about Hopkins for the rest of the season based on his Thursday performance against the Saints. Hopkins, 30 years old, appears fully recovered from the MCL sprain both physically and mentally. He looked quick and explosive against the Saints, creating a ton of separation from the defenders. With Marquise Brown on the IR and out for an extended period of time, Hopkins could even play a bigger role in the offense for the next couple of weeks and command a significant target share. This was made clear by his absurd 14 of 29 total team targets this past game.
It appears that Hopkins might finish the season with per-game average stats closer to his pre-injury 2020 season, where he averaged an impressive 87.9 yards and 7.2 receptions per game. One thing to look out for will be his red zone usage and touchdown numbers. He was able to score eight touchdowns in only ten games last season. It will be interesting to see if he can continue that touchdown efficiency or if he regresses closer to his 2020 season where he had six touchdowns in 16 games.
Final Thoughts
No matter how many scores Hopkins gets this season, it’s still extremely apparent how big of an impact his return has on this offense. He’ll look to build off of this dominant performance next week in a big game on the road against the 5-1 Minnesota Vikings. Hopkins will likely have another large target day but that is nothing new for him. Fingers crossed that “Nuk” can continue to light up the stat sheet.
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