The Dynasty Fantasy Football Impact of DeAndre Hopkins signing with the Titans
Over the span of the past decade, few receivers have had the impact both in the NFL and in fantasy football as DeAndre Hopkins has. After all, the former Texan and Cardinal has posted 853 catches, 11,298 receiving yards and 71 touchdowns over the past ten years. With Tennessee desperately looking for playmakers, they signed the newly-minted free agent Hopkins this morning to what looks like a “two-year, $26 million deal” that will pay him $12 million guaranteed and could be worth up to $15 million in year one (you can bet they can get out of it after one year if it doesn’t work out). It’s a deal that makes some sense for Tennessee, who is talent starved. It’s also one that has some far-reaching dynasty impact.
Let’s take a look at the players involved.
DeAndre Hopkins, WR TEN
After serving his PED-related suspension last season, Hopkins showed he still has some left in the tank as he recorded 64 catches for 717 yards and three scores in what proved to be his final nine games for the Cardinals. Seemingly unable to find a more lucrative deal with a more serious contender, Hopkins followed the money to Tennessee, where he should serve as their new WR1.
The question with Hopkins is two-fold at this point. First, what does he have left to give? While he looked good at the end of last season, he did just turn 31 years old and he’ll undoubtedly be matched up with the opposing defense’s best cornerback each week. He’s also only played in a total of 19 games the past two seasons, putting his availability in question.
The second issue has everything to do with the Titans offense. Ryan Tannehill has proven to be a capable quarterback but clearly not an elite one. After all, he still has just one season in which he has thrown more than 30 touchdowns, despite starting in a total of 145 games combined for the Titans and Dolphins. Is he good enough to utilize Hopkins to maintain his value, especially since this offense is still going to revolve around Derrick Henry? Time will tell on this one but chances are Hopkins could have fared better elsewhere.
In the end, Hopkins has fallen all the way down to WR43 and while his drop should stop, he won’t rise too much until we see him perform well early in the season. If you’re a contending team, he represents a solid veteran addition. However, it’s hard to see him returning to his dominant self in Nashville. As such, he certainly looks more like a WR2 than a WR1 moving forward.
Ryan Tannehill, WR TEN
It’s fair to place a significant amount of blame on the Titans for Tannehill’s troubles. After all, they’ve really had a hard time finding (and keeping) him weapons that have panned out. Corey Davis flamed out, Robert Woods was a mess, Julio Jones was a disaster, and AJ Brown was traded. The addition of Hopkins clearly shouldn’t hurt Tannehill’s value moving forward. Still, it’s hard to trust him at this point after the Titans drafted Will Levis, who should eventually take his place and that could happen sooner rather than later. Regardless of this signing, Tannehill is looking like a dangerous player to pencil onto your roster with the assumption he’ll start all season.
Treylon Burks, WR TEN
There are winners and losers with every deal and Burks looks like the clear loser here. Poised to be the Titans WR1, Burks will now slide back into the WR2 slot. Tannehill hasn’t shown he can keep more than one receiver relevant (and sometimes that’s a stretch), so expecting some kind of massive Sophomore jump from Burks looks pretty risky. His ADP has only dropped one round despite a 33/444/1 rookie season but we’re going to need to see more to stop that from falling significantly this season – that just became a little bit tougher.
Other Titans Receivers
The rest of the Tennessee depth chart is littered with names like Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Kyle Philips, Chris Moore, and Racey McMath. While there’s some talent here, it’s going to be really tough to see these guys making much of a difference. Unlike Derrick Henry, who is going to get his carries regardless, this signing is obviously a big blow to this group.
Chig Okonkwo, TE TEN
Call me crazy but I actually don’t think the signing of Hopkins really affects Okonkwo that much. His value has risen up to around the 10th round and that’s about right for a starting tight end with some potential. His value isn’t high enough to really start dropping and while Hopkins could take some targets away, the case could be made that a player who commands this much attention could open up the middle of the field for Okonkwo. In the end, he is what he is – a sleeper tight end with a runway to get better.
Will Levis, QB TEN
It looks like Malik Willis is on borrowed time and the reigns could be given to Levis relatively quickly. The signing of Hopkins would certainly help but Levis is still a pretty big wild card after falling hard in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Mac Jones, QB NE
The Patriots were the other team that reportedly had serious interest in Hopkins. The failure to reel him in is yet another black eye on a franchise that is suddenly having a pretty significant talent problem. Having Hopkins would have helped Jones precipitously but that’s in the past now. Jones is clearly on the hot seat.
Patriots ReceiversÂ
The likes of JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, Tyquan Thornton, Kendrick Bourne, and Kayshon Boutte would have all been hurt by the signing of Hopkins. It’s an uninspiring group but it looks like New England was comfortable signing Parker to an extension, leaning on JuJu and hoping Thornton takes a step forward. Hmm.
Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
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