DeAndre Hopkins film review: Feed him ASAP
Looking at what the Chiefs' newest WR did in limited snaps, and how what he did beyond the box score was even more encouraging than what he did when targeted.
When the Chiefs traded for DeAndre Hopkins, there was a great deal of celebration among fans. And for good reason.
After looking at Hopkins’ 2024 film (if you somehow missed it, I reviewed every route Hopkins ran with the Titans here), it was pretty clear that he has something left in the tank even at 32 years old. With Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown both lost to injury (and Juju Smith-Schuster out for now as well), the Chiefs desperately needed help at receiver. Additionally, with Xavier Worthy flashing but showing some rookie growing pains, they really didn’t have anyone in the room who could take on a “primary” WR role, and it showed in how an offense that was moving the ball well overall had to fight and scrap for every yard.
Once the celebrating was done, the speculation began. Would Hopkins be able to play his first week with the Chiefs (after arriving Wednesday evening and only getting in two practice sessions)? How many snaps would he play? Where would he line up? Would he be able to mesh with Patrick Mahomes out of the gate? And, film from Tennessee aside, how does the veteran WR look overall playing in Reid’s offense for the first time?
And so I figured it makes sense to look at what Hopkins did in his first outing as a Chief, keeping in mind his limited snaps. The goal is to see how he looked overall and what he brings to the offense now that we’ve got some “within the system” snaps. And let me say, it’s tough to ignore the results.
We’ll talk about this play (and his other targets), but it’s worth noting that even beyond the times he got the ball Hopkins showed the skillset to do much more within the offense than he did against Vegas, and the (very) early returns on the fit with Mahomes are terrific. Short story? He was creating separation on multiple plays, even when he didn’t get the ball, and was doing it in a way that fits perfectly with what the Chiefs do. Let’s talk some DeAndre Hopkins film, hopefully for the first of multiple times this season.