Subscribe
Follow Us
The Kansas City Chiefs made the big move to bring in veteran receiver DeAndre Hopkins in a trade with the Tennessee Titans recently, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes revealed his impact on the offense and what they see his role being.
“Oh 100%, I think not only like the physical ability but mentally you can tell how he attacks every single day and how smart he is, and how he goes out there and expects to win every single one-on-one matchup,” Patrick Mahomes said, via Jeff Darlington of ESPN. “And, I think he's gonna get a lot more one-on-ones than he's gotten in his entire career here, just with other guys that we have, and even from the first game we saw that if he gets in a one-on-one matchup he's gonna win most of the time.”
Patrick Mahomes on DeAndre Hopkins: “I think he's gonna get a lot more one-on-ones than he's gotten in his entire career here.” More from Mahomes on his early impressions of Hopkins… pic.twitter.com/evrIcoNFui
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) November 5, 2024
Hopkins is not necessarily at the peak of his abilities anymore, in comparison to his days with the Houston Texans at least. However, he is still a significant upgrade to the wide receiver depth chart for the Chiefs. As Mahomes mentioned, Hopkins is still a player he can trust to win one-on-one matchups, which is big, because that means he does not have to throw a perfect ball. Hopkins even caught a deep ball in double coverage on Monday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He caught eight passes for 86 yards, with two of them going for touchdowns in the 30-24 overtime win. The Chiefs moved to 8-0 as a result.
DeAndre Hopkins bolsters already strong Chiefs roster
The Chiefs are the only undefeated team in the NFL, but their offense has sputtered and the team has snuck away with a fair amount of close wins. They are far from unbeatable, but they have a strong defense, and Hopkins coming in, especially with Rashee Rice out for the year, gives Mahomes and company time to get the unit operating at a high level by the time the postseason comes around.
Despite their flaws, the Chiefs are still in a great position to come away with the No. 1 seed in the AFC, giving them home field advantage in the playoffs. They have a lot of opportunities for wins down the stretch, but they will play three games against AFC playoff contenders in the Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers. Those three could conceivably make a run at the No. 1 seed, while the Chiefs do play the Los Angeles Chargers one more time as well, a team that figures to be in playoff contention.
It will be interesting to see how Mahomes' connection with Hopkins continues to develop. The early returns have been positive.
