DeAndre Hopkins An Elite Fantasy Option With Cardinals
I have seen some fantasy experts in the community downgrade DeAndre Hopkins this year. You can maybe slightly understand the thought process. Kyler Murray is unproven, so is Kliff Kingsbury, and the offense isn’t built on one wide receiver. While that may be true, I’m on the opposite side of the fence. DeAndre Hopkins should still remain an elite fantasy option with the Cardinals. In fact, I think I like his potential even more with Arizona.
There is a stat out there that people will point to that says Hopkins won’t be the Hopkins we’re used to seeing. Arizona runs a lot of 3 and 4 wide receiver sets. The Cardinals ran a 3 wide receiver set 39 percent and 4 wide receivers 33 percent of the time. You can point to that and say maybe Hopkins won’t have the target share we’re used to seeing.
I think that’s silly, to be honest. You can’t use prior target shares that Arizona had because Hopkins is a game changer. Murray spread the ball around last year because he had to. Hopkins now becomes the featured threat on third down and in the red area.
Add in the fact that Deshaun Watson had fewer attempts last year than Kyler Murray did. Murray had 47 more attempts and probably will be asked to throw more than he did as a rookie. The Cardinals defense is inferior to Houston’s creating more shootouts.
I don’t think the weapons are that different either. Why would Christian Kirk, Andy Isabella, Kelvin Butler, or any of those secondary pieces scare anyone? Larry Fitzgerald is on his last leg and Maxx Williams isn’t a tight end that scares anyone. The target share argument is silly. Hopkins will get a ton of looks.
Arizona is also going to want to show off their new toy. The Cardinals want to break Hopkins into the offense and cater things to him. It has a Randy Moss early Patriots vibe. When you acquire one of these guys, you want to prove that you did the right thing. We’re also talking about DeAndre Hopkins who may be the best wide receiver in the sport. A guy that remained fantasy relevant with TJ Yates.
I also believe Murray is going to be a very valuable fantasy quarterback. I would be very surprised if he’s not a top 5 guy at the end of the year. Murray showed enough that I think a year 2 breakout is coming. Another year in the Kliff Kingsbury system helps. Arizona will be more competitive.
Don’t overthink this one. DeAndre Hopkins is still a beast and should be treated as such. Moving from Houston to Arizona doesn’t change that. Hopkins is still an elite fantasy wide receiver. I have Hopkins as my WR 2 this year in fantasy. I’m shocked more people aren’t buying into the Cardinals fantasy weapons.
