Superstar wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is considered by many to be the very best in the NFL at his position.
That is with some great reason too. Since being drafted by the Houston Texans in 2013, he has consistently been putting up some of the best numbers each season.
In fact, DeAndre Hopkins had over 800 receiving yards in every season so far. The only two that did not have him reach 1,000 were his rookie year (802) and 2016 (954). Outside of that, has five 1,000 yard seasons. Even more impressively, all five of those seasons saw him reach over 1,200 receiving yards.
DeAndre Hopkins can find the end zone as well, already racking up 54 touchdowns in his career. And his athleticism is well documented.
Not only is he fast, and one of the best route runners in the NFL, DeAndre Hopkins can win one-on-one battles. He has incredible leaping ability and is known for making mind-blowing catches a few times every year. Sometimes the consistency at which he pulls off the amazing catches seems almost unreal.
Due to all of this, he has built an amazing reputation in the NFL. And it's not just around the league that he is popular. DeAndre Hopkins is consistently one of the top draft picks in fantasy football leagues all over the world.
And he never disappoints, almost always finding himself right near the top of the leaderboards for wide receivers.
However, 2020 could see him facing new obstacles. He is on a new team for the first time in his career.
With that in mind how does the upcoming season look for DeAndre Hopkins when it comes to fantasy football? Let's take a look at his past, his present and his future – and try to figure exactly that out.
2019 Fantasy Stats
DeAndre Hopkins was absolutely incredible in 2019. He racked up 104 receptions for 1,165 yards and seven receiving touchdowns.
The receptions were third most in the NFL, while the yards were 11th and the touchdowns were 16th. That all adds up to be one of the better fantasy football seasons by any wide receiver in 2019.
However, what is perhaps the most amazing part is that he can do better. Literally just the season before, DeAndre Hopkins topped all three of those stats.
The wide receiver managed 115 receptions for 1,572 yards and 11 touchdowns. He's had one other season with more receptions than he saw in 2019. At the same time he's had three other seasons with more yards than 2019 and two other seasons with more touchdowns.
The fantasy potential for him really is limitless.
If you really want to add a little something to the mix, DeAndre Hopkins even threw a touchdown pass last season. So he truly did do it all for your fantasy team if you were lucky enough to have him.
What made DeAndre Hopkins so good is the consistency. Not only did he finish the season with some of the highest stats of any wide receiver, but he was putting up numbers every week.
Hopkins had at least five receptions in every game he appeared in last season (played 15 games). Only once did he have under 40 yards to go along with it (just 23 yards in Week 16 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
DeAndre Hopkins also scored his seven touchdowns in five different weeks. That means he was spreading out the scoring and giving you touchdowns in multiple different games.
That type of consistency is what wins fantasy football leagues.
However, as mentioned earlier, there is a new roadblock when it comes to DeAndre Hopkins in 2020. Something that he has never had to deal with before. A new team.
2020 Fantasy Projections
Now, a new team can cause problems for players. A wide receiver suddenly has a different quarterback throwing him the football. He also has a different coaching staff and a new scheme. And of course new wide receivers, running backs and tight ends around him.
Those new teammates might change how Hopkins plays. They could take away targets from him.
Shouldn't that scare a fantasy owner? Usually, yes. This is Hopkins we're talking about though. The same wide receiver that had 1,521 receiving yards in 2015 when Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, T.J. Yates and Brandon Weeden split quarterbacking duties.
So a new quarterback is not going to suddenly throw him off his game. Especially a new quarterback as talented and promising as Kyler Murray.
In fact, Murray and Hopkins could play off each other extremely well. It certainly does not hurt that Deshaun Watson has a similar type of play to Murray, so Hopkins should be used to the style.
He definitely has an exciting group around him, but the Texans also had a talented wide receiver unit outside of Hopkins. So that is nothing new either.
Hopkins will still get his, and be one of the best wide receivers in the game – that includes fantasy wise.
It wouldn't be out of the question to expect 100 receptions and some massive numbers beside that again.
We'll go with a nice even 110 receptions for 1,350 yards and 10 touchdown receptions. No passing touchdowns this year though. And once again, Hopkins will do it with tons of consistency. He's going to get you good production each week, making him an obvious (and useful) start at all times.
Rank At Position
Often, this is a hard section. Ranking someone at their position simply has too many variables. Because of course we need to look at them and their team. What could cause Hopkins to have a great or bad year?
It could be an injury or his individual play. It could also be the play of someone on his team. Of course, there are also his opponents to watch out for, as a defense outplaying or underperforming could change his stats as well.
However, when you are looking at rank at position, you suddenly have to look at everyone's variables. Which means it's often hard to pinpoint an exact spot.
That being said, Hopkins is one of the few players it is not too difficult for. Outside of Christian McCaffrey as the number one running back, there is probably no one in the NFL that you could write down in an exact fantasy football ranking with 100% certainty.
DeAndre Hopkins comes pretty close though. He will have some challengers in Michael Thomas and Julio Jones, among others. And that means he might not get the top spot.
DeAndre Hopkins is a guaranteed top-5 though. He's going to get you big numbers and do it weekly. With that in mind, he's going to slide in comfortably at the number three fantasy football wide receiver spot.
Take him early and let DeAndre Hopkins guide your team to the playoffs.
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