By all rights, Hopkins best in his field
But there’s a catch to first-team All-Pro nod: WR may miss final game at a tough position
Missing the first game of his five-year career should not diminish wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins’ chance to be voted first-team All-Pro for the first time.
Hopkins likely will be sidelined for the last game Sunday at Indianapolis because of a calf injury. The injury could cost him a shot at his second 100-catch season.
Hopkins, voted as a starter in the Pro Bowl, has 96 catches for 1,378 yards and 13 touchdowns through 15 games.
A 50-person panel votes on the All-Pro team and individual awards Tuesday, but they won’t be announced until the NFL Honors show the night before the Super Bowl in Minneapolis.
If the last thing voters remember about Hopkins’ season was
his incredible touchdown catch against Pittsburgh on Christmas Day, that should help him get votes at a highly competitive position.
Hopkins made the 3-yard catch — jumping over cornerback Joe Haden, tipping the ball with one hand to his other hand
while landing on Haden but managing to get both feet in bounds — that has being hailed as the NFL’s catch of the year.
It reminded secondyear quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan of a catch he witnessed in 2014. As the New York Giants’ receivers coach, he watched rookie Odell Beckham Jr. make one of the most famous catches in history against Dallas.
Beckham was reaching backward, his right arm fully extended, when he caught the ball one-handed, using three fingers.
“They’re both really talented players,” said Ryan, who coached the Texans’ receivers last season. “(I feel) very lucky to be around that type of talent. And to have an opportunity to do it with both of them is pretty special.
“It’s been a really great experience for me.”
Hugh catch radius
Ryan coached Beckham during his first two seasons with the Giants before Bill O’Brien hired him with the Texans. Like Beckham, Hopkins has amazed Ryan with his acrobatic receptions, many of them one-handed.
While Beckham has played with Eli Manning, one of the league’s most durable quarterbacks, Hopkins has caught passes from 10 quarterbacks, including three this season.
Ryan has a good idea of how Hopkins continues to excel despite changes at the most important position on the team.
“DeAndre’s catch radius is ridiculous,” Ryan said. “When you have that as a quarterback, that type of ability when a receiver can go up and get it in a huge area around him, that really helps you. He does a great job of that.”
Entering the last weekend of the regular season, Hopkins ranks fifth in catches, second in yards and first in touchdowns.
He’s first with 17 catches of at least 25 yards, first with at least one touchdown catch in 10 games, first with nine games with at least seven catches, second with 69 receptions for first downs, second with six touchdowns of at least 20 yards, second with a touchdown reception in five consecutive games and third with five 100-yard games.
Hopkins is one of six receivers in NFL history — joining Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, Herman Moore and Sterling Sharpe — to have at least 96 catches for 1,378 yards and 13 touchdowns in the first 15 games of a season.
In this era of wideopen offense designed to enhance the passing game, one-handed catches are becoming routine. With Beckham sidelined most of the season, Hopkins has earned a lot of notoriety for them.
Coaches still instruct players to catch the ball with both hands. Hopkins used both hands on his touchdown against the Steelers — the right hand to bat the ball to his left.
“I thought it was unbelievable,” Ryan said. “The hand-eye coordination that goes into these difficult catches, but it was a tip with one hand, a catch with the other and the ability to get that last foot down, that toe tap.
“The body control to be able to do that was amazing.”
Big gap on Texans
Hopkins said afterward that he was disappointed he didn’t make the onehanded catch rather than tipping the ball to his other hand.
“That does not surprise me at all,” Ryan said. “That’s the standard that guy sets for himself. He sees himself as he should, as a bell-cow receiver who’s got to make those plays. And I’m glad he does.”
Think about the other receivers who played with Hopkins and how much attention he drew from defenses that almost always doubled him.
Hopkins has made 60 more receptions than
running back Lamar Miller, second on the team with 36 catches. He has 972 more yards than Will Fuller (406) and six more touchdowns than Fuller (seven).
Hopkins’ yardage and touchdown differentials rank first in the NFL. His catch differential is second.
As the play-caller, O’Brien has to find ways to help Hopkins get open against coverages designed to contain him.
“We move him around a lot,” O’Brien said. “He’s on the single side sometimes. He’s at No. 2 or No. 3, or he’s all the way outside on the three-man side as No. 1.
“We put him in all four different positions, and I think that helps him. But most of the time, with his ability and what they’re doing with him, he gets
open on his own.”
O’Brien has coached Hopkins for four seasons and continues to marvel at his production, especially considering the attention he gets from defenses.
“The ball doesn’t have to be pinpoint accuracy every time,” O’Brien said. “He actually likes the ball away from his body. He’s a big guy, good route runner, big hands, great catch radius (and) the ability to get his feet down inbounds.
“He’s probably the perfect receiver to work with a lot of different quarterbacks.”
If Hopkins and the Texans are fortunate next season, perhaps he will get to play 16 games with only one quarterback for the first time in his career.