Why NFL Executives Call DeAndre Hopkins a 'Great Fit' After Kansas City Chiefs Trade
Why NFL Executives Call DeAndre Hopkins a 'Great Fit' After Kansas City Chiefs Trade
Brett Veach and the Chiefs Add a Potential Game-Changer for Patrick Mahomes
Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach understood the assignment.
According to multiple reports, the Kansas City Chiefs are finalizing a blockbuster trade with the Tennessee Titans to acquire former All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
In the midst of a 6-0 start, despite a limited offense that saw Patrick Mahomes post a meager 44.4 passer rating Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, the Chiefs spent the first third of this season manufacturing victories despite losing speedy receiver Rashee Rice and without Marquise “Hollywood” Brown playing a down in 2024.
“I think it’s a great fit,” an NFL Scouting Director told me, shortly after reports of the trade surfaced.
Hopkins, 32, might not be the same player he was in his prime, but he still has the tools and traits to be productive.
Besides, Hopkins now goes from one of the worst quarterback situations in the league in an offense where he was miscast from the moment he arrived in Nashville, to playing alongside a future first-ballot Hall of Famer in a system designed by one of the greatest play-callers in NFL history.
“The Chiefs needed to replace Kelce’s diminishing production,” the executive points out. “Hard to find receivers with speed and they must develop Xavier Worthy, and hope Rashee Rice comes back if they have any real chance this year.”
Hopkins will certainly take some of the pressure off Kelce to be the primary weapon in the passing game, while opening up opportunities for the All-Pro tight end thanks to the attention safeties now must pay the Chiefs’ top of the depth chart receiver over the top and over the middle of the field.
PODCAST
Besides, one year removed from Mahomes relying on a receiving corps that led the league in dropped passes, there’s something to be said for adding a receiver who has only been charged with one dropped pass thus far in 2024 into the three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback’s arsenal.
Despite a revolving door of mediocre quarterback play in Tennessee this season, between Will Levis and Mason Rudolph each struggling to find any semblance of consistency, Hopkins has caught 15 passes for 173 yards with one touchdown catch.
With Week 8 about to get underway, Kansas City ranks eighth in the league in total offense, but uncharacteristically, the the Chiefs’ passing offense is just 18th in the league.
Hopkins’ ceiling in Kansas City, and that of the Chiefs’ offense, just got raised. Possibly significantly.
Through his first 11-plus seasons, Hopkins has caught 943 passes for 12,528 yards with 79 career touchdown receptions.
Kansas City has been pursuing receiver help since the summer, a need that was amplified by Brown’s preseason injury and the loss of Rice. After missing out on Davante Adams and Amari Cooper last week, landing Hopkins provides Mahomes with a potentially game-changing weapon, as he continues working to establish chemistry with Worthy and adapt to a rotating cast of characters amid the Chiefs' injuries.
Things have become so dire in the Chiefs’ passing game, that Rice (injured) and Travis Kelce are the only two players who have produced more than 200 receiving yards this season.
That has the potential to change in a hurry.
“DeAndre definitely will help on 3rd down and in the red zone,” an AFC offensive coordinator tells me. “As a bigger target who can win in tight spaces. He’ll be their contested catch guy. Will be tough to double him and Travis Kelce on same play. So, someone is getting a one-on-one matchup.”
No team has ever won three Super Bowls, and the Chiefs have figured out new ways to manufacture victories each week this season, primarily by leaning on coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s swarming, stingy, opportunistic defense.
But, by adding Hopkins, Veach tipped the scales a bit back in Mahomes’ and the offense’s favor, which could make stopping Kansas City’s bid for history much more difficult.
The Hopkins trade, though, not only bolsters Patrick Mahomes’ offensive arsenal but also sends a clear message to the rest of the NFL—this Chiefs team is fully committed to winning it all. Again.
