Would DeAndre Hopkins Have Saved New England Patriots' Anemic Offense?
The New England Patriots made no deals to acquire fresh talent at this week's NFL trade deadline. Last year's leading receiver (Jakobi Meyers) is in Las Vegas. Last year's top drafted receiver (Tyquan Thornton) has been reduced to a healthy scratch. This year's leading receiver (Kendrick Bourne) is on season-ending injured reserve. And their big free-agent weapon (JuJu Smith-Schuster) has had less than minimal impact on a 2-6 team headed nowhere fast.
Maybe things would be different had their Summer fling with DeAndre Hopkins panned out.
After meetings and blessings and months of flirtation and a visit to Foxboro, in mid-July Hopkins shunned the Pats and signed with the Tennessee Titans. He made his choice because of a bigger base salary, not one laced with incentives offered by New England.
The ramifications of not signing Hopkins are still being felt in this disastrous Pats season. Their offense is one of the worst in the NFL. Among teams that have played eight games, only the New York Giants (95) have scored fewer than their 118. They have scored more than 20 points only once, and they have been held to 200 yards or less passing in six of eight games.
Almost Patriots receiver DeAndre Hopkins broke out with three touchdown catches last week for Tennessee.
Void of playmakers, they are left to dink-and-dunk down the field. Regressing quarterback Mac Jones has only one 300-yard passing game, and that was when he attempted 54 throws in the Week 1 loss to the Eagles. The Pats haven't had a 100-yard receiver in 10 games, since Christmas Eve last season.
New England's longest pass play of the season - 58 yards - was to third-string tight end Pharoah Brown.
Meanwhile in Nashville, Hopkins had his breakout game last weekend. With rookie Will Levis at quarterback, he caught four passes for 128 yards and three touchdowns in a win over the Falcons. For the season Hopkins has two 100-yard games, three catches over 30 yards and a total of 31 grabs for 504 yards and the three scores.
Now without Bourne's production (37 catches, 406 yards, four touchdowns), the Patriots' receiving cupboard is embarrassingly bare. The remaining six on the roster have combined for only 52 catches, 488 yards and one touchdown.
Hopkins has more yards and touchdowns than every receiver the Patriots will suit up Sunday against the Commanders. Combined.
While Jones runs for his life behind an inconsistent offensive line and struggles to find open receivers deep in the secondary, he'll hopelessly look to Smith-Schuster (15-89-1), Demario Douglas (19-222-0), DeVante Parker (15-158-0), Tyquan Thornton (2-8-0), Jalen Reagor (1-11-0) and Kayshon Boutte (0-0-0) to make plays.
In other words, the 2024 NFL Draft can't come soon enough.
