'Nuk' Hopkins Gets New Opportunity In Arizona

The move to the desert for former Clemson receiver DeAndre "Nuk" Hopkins is one that could, and should, work out quite well for an NFL All-Pro receiver in the prime of his career.

The Houston Texans giving up Hopkins and a fourth-round NFL draft pick to the Arizona Cardinals for David Johnson and a pair of draft picks sent shockwaves through the league that still haven't subsided.

Can’t wait!! https://t.co/iN1O7yiix5
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) March 18, 2020

Throw in Wednesday's big story from NFL analyst Michael Irvin and his conversations with Hopkins concerning Texans head coach Bill O'Brien, and it's already been a weird week for the Central native.

Once all the drama subsides, and NFL teams can hold workouts and practices again following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cardinals will find out just how much of a bargain that trade really was for them.

After the Texans agreed to trade DeAndre Hopkins, sources told me Hopkins' reps told the Texans weeks prior he wanted a new deal paying him somewhere between $18- $20mil per year. The team was told Hopkins wouldn't show, if he didn't get the deal. Houston moved forward with trade
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) March 18, 2020

Arizona, however, may very well be willing to shell out more dollars, especially once they see the impact he'll bring to their offensive system.

Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury turned around an offense that ranked dead last in the NFL in scoring in 2018 to a team ranked 16th in 2019, his first season with the franchise. Selecting former Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray with the No. 1 pick of the 2019 NFL Draft had a lot to do with that, and after a few bumps in the road throughout the season, Arizona closed with wins in two of their last three games.

The addition of Hopkins into a four-WR system is paramount. He'll team with legend Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk to give the Cardinals a true outside receiver threat and bring real hope for an upward trajectory in the NFC West.

.@DeAndreHopkins. @LarryFitzgerald. In the same offense. 😳 pic.twitter.com/9IJWMqrRSm
— NFL (@NFL) March 17, 2020

"Now for Arizona to have a counterbalance to Larry Fitzgerald, Kyler Murry is going to benefit a great deal because he hasn't had that counterbalance in terms of which way do we now slant our defenses in critical situations, let alone Kyler Murray's ability to extend plays outside the pocket. So it's a huge, huge pickup," NFL Netwok analyst Brian Billick said Thursday on "Free Agent Frenzy."

Hopkins will thrive in that latter situation. Murray is as dynamic as any QB in the league when it comes to moving out of the pocket. Hopkins made a living off of that with Deshaun Watson, who is quite the scrambler himself but is left in Houston without his top target.

Hopkins has proven he can go against the best of the best and win one-on-one matchups without perfect passes. After all, he averaged over 1,100 yards per season in four previous campaigns pre-Watson. That was with the likes of Brock Osweiler, Ryan Mallett and Tom Savage.

Murray isn't those guys, but he also isn't at Watson's level yet.

In a new system with different players around him, it's unclear if Hopkins can replicate his average of 1,371 yards per season the last three with Watson. But double-digit touchdowns and the ability to move the chains in a face-paced system should help Hopkins stay among the best pass-catchers in the game.

And, maybe most importantly, he's out of Houston, a team that's traded two former first-round selections (Hopkins and Jadeveon Clowney) the last two seasons with little in return.