DeAndre Hopkins


DeAndre Rashaun Hopkins, nicknamed "DHop" and "Nuk", is an American professional football wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He played college football for the Clemson Tigers and was selected by the Houston Texans in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft. He has also played in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, and Kansas City Chiefs. Hopkins is a five-time Pro Bowler and has been named to five All-Pro teams.

Early life

As an infant, Hopkins was given the nickname Nuk by his mother because he frequently chewed through NUK pacifiers. It is pronounced "nuke".
Hopkins attended D. W. Daniel High School in Central, South Carolina, where he played football, basketball, and ran track and field for the Lions athletic teams. During his high school football career, Hopkins had 57 receptions for 1,266 yards and 18 touchdowns on offense and 28 interceptions and five touchdowns on defense. While on the basketball team, he played as a shooting guard and point guard, scoring 1,453 career points. His senior season, 2009–10, the Lions won their third South Carolina State Championship, and Hopkins was named the Independent Mail's player of the year. He was rated as the 12th best wide receiver in the nation and the State of South Carolina. He received various rankings by reputable sports organizations, ESPN ranked him the 29th best athlete. He earned an All-State first-team from the state and The Charlotte Observer.

College career

Hopkins enrolled in Clemson University, where he played for the Clemson Tigers football team from 2010 to 2012 under head coach Dabo Swinney.

2010 season

Hopkins immediately became a contributor to the Clemson offense as a freshman in their 6–7 season. Hopkins started his collegiate career with two receptions for 23 receiving yards in a 35–10 victory over North Texas on September 24. The next week, against Presbyterian, he scored his first collegiate receiving touchdown on a nine-yard reception from Tajh Boyd in the 58–21 victory. On November 13, in a road 16–13 loss to Florida State, he had eight receptions for 106 receiving yards. In the final game of the regular season, the Palmetto Bowl against rival South Carolina, he had seven receptions for 124 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in the 29–7 loss. In the 2010 Meineke Car Care Bowl against South Florida, he had nine receptions for 105 receiving yards in the 31–26 loss to close out his freshman season. Hopkins was Clemson's leading receiver with 52 receptions for 637 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. In addition, he played basketball after his freshman season. He played in seven games in the 2010–11 season for the Tigers basketball team.

2011 season

Clemson took a major step forward in Hopkins's sophomore year, finishing with a 10–4 mark. Hopkins started the 2011 season with nine receptions for 108 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in two games combined against Troy and Wofford. Against Auburn on September 17, Hopkins had seven receptions for 83 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in the 38–24 victory. On October 22, against North Carolina, he had nine receptions for 157 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in the 59–38 victory. Nearly a month later, against NC State, he had five receptions for 124 receiving yards in the 37–13 loss. In the ACC Championship against Virginia Tech, he had seven receptions for 92 receiving yards in the 38–10 victory. In the 2012 Orange Bowl, he had 10 receptions for 107 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in the historic 70–33 loss to West Virginia. As a sophomore in 2011, he had 72 receptions for 978 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns. He finished second on the team in the major receiving categories to Sammy Watkins.

2012 season

In his junior year, Hopkins helped lead the Tigers to their first 11-win season since 1981. Hopkins started the 2012 season off strong with 13 receptions for 119 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in a 26–19 win over Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. With Clemson trailing in the fourth quarter, Hopkins had the go-ahead score. One week later, against Ball State, he had six receptions for 105 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns in a 52–27 victory. Hopkins three touchdowns all came in the second quarter, setting a new school record for touchdowns in a quarter. Dating back to the prior season, this gave Hopkins three consecutive games with 100 receiving yards, tying a school record. On September 29, against Boston College, had had 11 receptions for 197 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in the 45–31 victory. In the following game, he had seven receptions for 173 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns against Georgia Tech in a 47–31 victory. On November 3, in a game at Duke, he had four receptions for 128 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns in the 56–20 victory. Like his previous three-touchdown game against Ball State, Hopkins recorded all three touchdowns in one quarter, with this performance being the first quarter. He closed out the regular season with one receiving touchdown in each of the last three games against Maryland, North Carolina State, and South Carolina. In the 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl against LSU, he had 13 receptions for 191 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in the 25–24 victory. Hopkins's touchdown came with under three minutes remaining to put Clemson down 2. Clemson eventually won the game on 37-yard field goal from Chandler Catanzaro. In his junior season in 2012, Hopkins had one of the best receiving seasons in ACC history, with a conference-best 1,405 yards on 82 catches and a school-record 18 touchdowns earning First-team All-Conference honors. Hopkins, along with junior quarterback Tajh Boyd and wide receiver Sammy Watkins, combined to make one of the most prolific passing offenses in college football and broke many individual and career school records. He scored a touchdown in each of the last ten games of the season, doubling the previous school record for consecutive games with a score. Hopkins left Clemson with career record for receiving yards and career touchdown receptions. His 206 career receptions were the most by a Clemson receiver since Aaron Kelly had 232 from 2005 to 2008. On January 10, 2013, Hopkins decided to forgo his senior season at Clemson and enter the NFL Draft.

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming out of Clemson, Hopkins was considered a top prospect and received an invitation to the NFL Combine. He completed nearly all of the combine drills, but was unable to finish the three-cone drill after suffering an apparent calf injury. After the combine, the hotel room Hopkins shared with Rutgers wide receiver Mark Harrison was found to be left in a state where "urine and feces were found around the bathroom, toothpaste was left on the mirror and partially eaten food was on one of the beds," per ESPN. Both players denied responsibility.
On March 7, 2013, he participated in Clemson's pro day. Hopkins attended private workouts or visits with the Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, and had two with the St. Louis Rams.
At the conclusion of the predraft process, Hopkins was projected to be a first or second round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the third best wide receiver prospect by NFL.com draft analyst Josh Norris, the fourth best wide receiver by Sports Illustrated, and was ranked the fifth best wide receiver by NFLDraftScout.com and NFL analyst Mike Mayock.

Houston Texans

2013 season

The Houston Texans selected Hopkins in the first round with the 27th overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft. He was the second wide receiver selected, behind Tavon Austin. Hopkins was the second wide receiver in franchise history to be drafted in the first round, the first being Andre Johnson who was selected third overall in 2003. It was also just the second time in 10 years that the Texans selected an offensive player in the first round. He became the highest wide receiver out of Clemson since Rod Gardner went 15th overall in 2001. On July 24, 2013, Hopkins signed a four-year, $7.62 million contract with the team. The first three years of the contract were fully guaranteed.
Hopkins made his NFL debut in the season opener against the San Diego Chargers and made five receptions for 55 yards in the 31–28 victory, a game where the Texans at one point trailed 28–7. His first NFL reception came on a pass from Matt Schaub for no gain in the second quarter. On September 15, Hopkins caught a season-high seven passes for 117 receiving yards and scored his first career touchdown reception on a three-yard pass from quarterback Matt Schaub in the Texans' 30–24 overtime victory against the Tennessee Titans. It was Hopkins's first game with over one hundred receiving yards. Hopkins was named the NFL Rookie of the Month for September. In Week 7, he caught three passes for 76 yards and scored a touchdown on a 29-yard pass from Case Keenum during a 16–17 loss to Kansas City Chiefs. On December 2, 2013, Head coach Gary Kubiak was fired after the Texans posted a 2–11 record. Hopkins finished the season with 52 receptions for 802 receiving yards and two touchdowns. His rookie season was marred by inconsistent quarterback play by Matt Schaub that led to Schaub's benching after nine interceptions in five games. Hopkins was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team for the 2013 season.

2014 season

Hopkins returned as a starting wide receiver alongside Andre Johnson under new head coach Bill O'Brien to begin the 2014 season.
Hopkins started in the season-opening 17–6 victory over the Washington Redskins and caught four passes for 89 yards and scored a new career-long 76-yard touchdown on a pass by quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. In Week 3, he had six receptions for 116 yards during a 30–14 victory over the New York Giants. In the game, Hopkins had a spectacular one-handed 53-yard catch that was negated by an illegal formation penalty. During a Week 7 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Hopkins made six receptions for 108 receiving yards in a 23–30 loss. On November 30, 2014, Hopkins caught a season-high nine passes for a season-high 238 receiving yards and two touchdowns as the Texans routed the Titans 45–21 in Week 13. Hopkins was the Texans' leading receiver in, recording 76 receptions for 1,210 yards and six touchdowns in 16 games and 16 starts.