CLASSIC MATCHUP
Texans star receiver DeAndre Hopkins’ mastery of running routes extends well beyond the basics of fly patterns, posts and slants.
Hopkins’ convincing repertoire of head fakes, jab steps and double-moves have provided a snapshot of a determined receiver who has honed the nuances of his game.
Emerging as a strong Pro Bowl candidate in his third NFL season, Hopkins, 23, has proved capable of making game-changing plays. Between his lefthanded, game-winning touchdown catch against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night and spinning around cornerbacks all season, Hopkins has frequently dominated.
“Just watching DeAndre on film, he’s probably one of the tops in the league, if not the top, with everything he has done this year from his route running, to his ball skills, to his feistiness and everything else,” New York Jets coach Todd Bowles said. “The guy is having a great year.”
As advanced as Hopkins has become, though, while catching 71 passes for 927 yards and seven touchdowns to rank third in the NFL in receptions and receiving yards behind the Atlanta Falcons’ Julio Jones and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown, he’ll face arguably the greatest test of his career Sunday at NRG Stadium.
The most targeted wide receiver in the NFL with 125 passes thrown to him, Hopkins will match wits and moves for the first time against legendary Jets shutdown cornerback Darrelle Revis.
Aformer NFL Defensive Player of the Year named to the Pro Bowl in six of the past seven seasons, “Revis Island” has stranded elite receivers for the past nine years. In a game between two teams fighting for a playoff spot, Hopkins versus Revis bears watching.
“It’s a great matchup,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “(Revis) is a great player, very smart player. You can’t run sloppy routes on him. You have to come to play on every single play against Darrelle, and that includes the quarterback.”
Confident in his skills, Hopkins hardly sounds concerned about the challenge Revis (5-11, 198) poses with his ballhawking abilities and tendency to bait quarterbacks into miscues. Go-to receiver
Hopkins has 57 first downs, ranking second in the league. He ranks third in the NFL with 19 catches on third down.
“Not so much,” Hopkins said when asked if he’s excited to face such an accomplished corner. “I’m going to go out there and do the game plan and do what I do. I’m not really worried so much about who’s guarding me. He’s a good corner. He’s experienced. He’s been in the league for a while, a vet, so he’s a pro’s pro.”
Although Revis, 30, is seven years older than Hopkins and there are whispers in NFL circles about whether he has lost a step, it hasn’t shown in his performance.
Revis has three interceptions this season and opposing quarterbacks have mustered just a 44.3 passer rating against him. He earned a Super Bowl XLIX ring last season with the New England Patriots, recording an interception and a sack in a win over the Seattle Seahawks, and is bolstering the Jets’ fourthranked defense.
“He has a good combination of size, speed, strength, anticipation and savvy,” Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said of Revis. “When you’ve got all of that and are able to put it together, that makes you basically a shutdown corner and that’s how he’s been used most of his career.”
Revis was signed to a five-year, $70 million contract that included $39 million guaranteed and prompted a tampering investigation after the Patriots filed a complaint with the NFL that cost Jets owner Woody Johnson a $100,000 fine.
The native of Aliquippa, Pa., is the kind of expensive, proven corner who warrants a respectful wariness from quarterbacks. Mistakes against Revis are usually costly. He has 23 career interceptions with three returned for touchdowns despite quarterbacks avoiding him.
“He’s definitely a guy where you have to know where he is on the field at all times,” said Texans backup quarterback T.J. Yates, who will start Sunday with Brian Hoyer out with a concussion. “He’s one of the best to do it. You’ve got to game-plan around him, got to make sure you know where he is.”
Hopkins, nicknamed “Nuk” by his mother because of his affection for a certain brand of paci- fier, has built his dangerous reputation during a breakthrough season. He’s on pace to finish the season with 126 catches, 1,648 yards and 12 touchdowns. Special is routine
The spectacular catch has become routine for Hopkins. The 2013 firstround draft pick from Clemson has worked on becoming ambidextrous, snagging passes with either hand.
“I guess technology is better, better gloves,” Hopkins said with a smile. “It’s something I used to work on, not so much now. Now, I work on making twohanded catches.”
Hopkins’ knack for onehanded catches prompted fellow practitioners of the art, including Brown and New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr., to salute him on social media after Monday’s circus catch against the Bengals. In select company
“I just know between Hop and obviously, Beckham, Antonio Brown, (Detroit Lions receiver) Calvin Johnson, all of these guys, when I was in New England, coaching Randy Moss, I saw those catches every day,” O’Brien said. “There’s a lot of great receivers in the league right now and obviously Hop is one of them.”
More compliments and accolades could be headed Hopkins’ way, depending on the remainder of the season and how he fares Sunday. He downplayed the severity of a knee injury, practicing Friday on a limited basis. Hopkins deflected questions about his individual stats.
“We have a losing record,” said Hopkins, who’s probable on the injury report. “So I don’t really care so much about what I am doing.”
With an iron grip and the athleticism and strength to elevate over or outmuscle cornerbacks with his strong 6-1, 218-pound frame, Hopkins has earned quarterbacks’ trust to lob it to him in the red zone with the belief he’ll come down with the football.
“He makes it easy,” Yates said. “He’s got a catching radius, and it’s big. A guy coming in my situation, you have guys around you like that where it’s kind of a comfort blanket. I know when I throw it up to him he’s going to go get it.”
Hopkins’ playbook knowledge and field savvy have helped him generate the most receiving yards and touchdowns of any Texan during their first three seasons in franchise history.
“Because he knows our offense so well now, he’s able to line up in a lot of different positions,” O’Brien said. “We can line him up in the slot, line him up on the outside, line him up in all the different empty positions.
“He’s worked extremely hard to become a better route runner, so he’s not just a deep-ball guy.
“He can run option routes, crossing routes. He can do all the things we ask our receivers to do in the route tree. That’s where he’s made a lot of improvement. All of the credit goes to him.” Kudos from Fitzpatrick
Hopkins’ work isn’t unheralded, or unnoticed. Jets starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick made it a special point to throw often to Hopkins last season when he was with the Texans. Now, he’ll watch from the sideline as Hopkins plies his trade against Revis.
“DeAndre is a great player,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s no surprise what he’s been able to do this year. He’s one of my favorites I’ve thrown to. I think it’ll be a great matchup. Those are two guys that are playing at the top of their games right now.”