Per Dianna Russini of ESPN, veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is signing with the Tennessee Titans (Source: Dianna Russini via Twitter)
Fantasy Football Outlook
Despite playing in just 9 games last season, Hopkins was still productive for fantasy football purposes. During those 9 games, he averaged 16.9 PPR fantasy points per game, which was good for 10th in the NFL for all wide receivers.
While the days of Hopkins being an elite WR1 for your fantasy football teams are over, he can still be a productive player for your teams. The 31-year-old wideout has yet to show any signs of slowing down. Hopkins was the WR4 last season in TargetShare (29.4), WR13 in Route Participation (95.3), and WR2 in Air Yards Share (43.5). His aforementioned mark of 16.9 FPPG was good for ninth in his position. Hopkins can also get open, ending 2022 as the WR4 (51.8) and WR2 in route win rate and win rate vs. man (47.0) respectively.
The issue with Hopkins is whether or not he will thrive in a low-volume passing offense. Last season, the Cardinals were fourth in team pass plays per game (39.1). Hopkins thrived while on the field. The Cardinals were not always a pass-happy bunch with Hopkins, however. They were 19th in pass plays per game in 2021 (32.6) in a year where Hopkins managed 14.7 FPPG in 10 appearances.
The Titans are not the team that is going to finish a season anywhere close to 19th or 4th in pass plays per game. In the past two seasons, the Titans were 29th and 25th in pass plays per game respectively. Therefore, Hopkins must take advantage of every opportunity thrown at him.
To put things into perceptive, when A.J. Brown was a member of the Titans, he never had a season with more than 81 targets per game. And when it comes to yearly finishes in FPPG, Brown was the WR24, WR6, and WR30 in that category from 2019-2021.
If Hopkins is going to cash in on his fantasy football ADP, he must operate at an efficient level as he is a wideout accustomed to drawing double digits targets per game.
Dynasty Outlook
Hopkins is expected to ink a two-year deal with the Titans, which means he is going to be tied to a low-volume passing attack led by Ryan Tannehill and/or Will Levis. Needless to see there are reasons to be wary when it comes to targeting Hopkins in your Dynasty drafts. However, as long as Hopkins is the WR1 on the team, he should draw enough volume to operate as a WR2 in fantasy during his time in Tennessee.
Don’t let the name or his past production in fantasy fool you as a Dynasty manager. Now is not the time in Hopkins’ career to reach for him. If you can acquire Hipkins at a value, then pull the trigger, especially if you are in a win now scenario.
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