KANSAS CITY, Mo. — DeAndre Hopkins had been across the league some time, with the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs being his fourth crew in 12 NFL seasons. However in a approach, Hopkins felt like a rookie when he arrived through commerce midseason.
All of a sudden, he was teamed with Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, Andy Reid and others and by no means earlier than felt the load of expectations that got here with it. At age 32, with the belief of his soccer mortality beginning to set in, this case was precisely what Hopkins needed.
“They’re coming off a championship — two championships — so it feels loads totally different than anyplace I have been,” mentioned Hopkins, who made the playoffs earlier in his profession with the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals. The farthest both crew reached was the divisional spherical.
“Every little thing everyone does right here, not simply on this facility however outdoors the power, is detailed, and that is the way you win championships,” he added. “It means loads. It takes your recreation to a special degree. It takes your focus, your drive, figuring out that you just’re taking part in for one thing.”
Hopkins is not the prolific receiver with the Chiefs that he was earlier in his profession. Within the 10 video games since his arrival, Hopkins has 41 catches for 437 yards and 4 touchdowns.
However he nonetheless helped the Chiefs attain a 15-2 document, a ninth-straight AFC West championship and the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed.
“You did not know what to anticipate so far as the participant on and off the sector,” Mahomes mentioned. “However he will get within the room and he is a frontrunner from Day 1. He is instructing youthful guys, he is serving to youthful guys within the room about stuff that he is discovered. Then you definately get on the apply discipline and also you see how explosive he nonetheless is and the way he can nonetheless make these performs, and he can go one-on-one with one of the best of one of the best and win.
“It was undoubtedly a pleasing shock for me simply seeing him on the soccer discipline. I believe I may even give him increasingly more probabilities because it goes on as a result of he looks as if he is making performs each time I do.”
The depth of the scenario solely will increase from right here. The Chiefs start their 2024 playoffs on Saturday towards the Texans at Arrowhead Stadium (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC/ESPN+).
That is what Hopkins needed at this level of his profession. He was so glad after the October commerce from Tennessee that he made a degree to thank Titans basic supervisor Ran Carthon afterward for sending him to the Chiefs as an alternative of a crew that would not contend.
“I have not performed significant soccer in a pair years since we in all probability began [7-0] in Arizona [in 2021], so it takes a recreation to a special degree,” Hopkins mentioned. “I’ve carried out loads, all of the accolades that I can accomplish so far as private, so I believe simply taking part in significant soccer in January is what’s left on the checklist.”
IT TOOK SOME time for it to occur, however Hopkins taking part in for the Chiefs appeared destined. The Chiefs had chased Hopkins for some time. They talked with the Cardinals at one time a couple of commerce. They pursued him later when he was a free agent, however he opted as an alternative for the Titans.
The courtship culminated two years in the past when Hopkins ran throughout Chris Jones at an occasion in Miami. Their dialog got here round to what issues is perhaps like if Hopkins performed in Kansas Metropolis.
“We each agreed that he’d be tremendous profitable with this offense,” Jones mentioned. “[There were] plenty of issues happening and sadly we weren’t capable of purchase him on the time. However how life works, it is full circle. And sadly with accidents, we wanted a large receiver.”
Chiefs basic supervisor Brett Veach was amongst those that thought Hopkins was sure for Kansas Metropolis. That was notably true when Hopkins was a free agent two years in the past.
The Chiefs had misplaced JuJu Smith-Schuster, their main broad receiver, in 2022 and receiver Mecole Hardman to free company (each gamers later returned). They wanted somebody to guide a bunch of wideouts that, on the time, included Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson, Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore.
“We have been proper there on the finish and Tennessee simply received to a spot that we could not do money-wise,” Veach mentioned. “He went to Tennessee but when we had the means to [sign him] I believe he would have come right here.”
After accidents to broad receivers Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown, the Chiefs lastly made it occur this season, bringing in Brown and sending a fifth-round draft choose to the Titans that turns into a fourth if the Chiefs attain the Tremendous Bowl.
WHEN THE CHIEFS traded for Hopkins, they have been searching for a veteran to stabilize their group of broad receivers. On the time, Smith-Schuster was out with an damage — together with Brown and Rice — although he returned to the lineup in November.
In Hopkins, they discovered somebody prepared to guide a bunch that features promising rookie and first-round draft choose Xavier Worthy. They watched as Hopkins turned the chief in receiving drills his first day at apply, a time when many veterans defer to those that had been with the crew for an extended time.
“We have had gamers we acquired at midseason and normally the primary apply is a feeling-out course of,” Veach mentioned. “We get DeAndre and the primary apply he hops proper in line, the entrance of the road. I am certain that is what he is carried out his entire profession, however I believe that is vital while you come to a crew with a younger group.
“You by no means actually know while you convey a man in halfway via the season. I believe [Hopkins] had plenty of confidence simply due to the profession he is had and the expertise he is had. … He has a assured approach about him.”
Hopkins is accustomed to being his quarterback’s favourite goal. He led his crew in receptions in seven of his first 11 NFL seasons. The exceptions have been his first two seasons within the league. With the Texans, he completed behind Corridor of Fame broad receiver Andre Johnson, and with the Cardinals, he missed a number of video games with accidents.
Hopkins has by no means performed for a crew constructed just like the Chiefs. One tight finish, Kelce, was their main receiver, whereas one other, Noah Grey, was second on the crew in landing catches. Worthy is their third main broad receiver because the Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill three years in the past (Smith-Schuster led in 2022 and Rice led in 2023).
He needed to be prepared to simply accept a lesser position than he has had for many of his profession. No demanding the ball, no unhappiness when it goes to a special receiver.
“He actually hasn’t been that approach,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy mentioned. “There will be some issues that he sees all through the sport, and he’ll come to you and voice it like, ‘Hey, I see this.’ I really like that. I do know Coach Reid does, too. On his finish of it, he is received to grasp too, ‘Okay, we have got you.’
“He is been nice with responding to us telling him that, and I do not assume that that ought to change. He is performed plenty of reps. He is seen plenty of issues.”
Hopkins’ credentials for eventual inclusion within the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame already appear set. He is sixteenth all-time in move receptions (984), twenty first in yardage (12,965).
Serving to the Chiefs win a 3rd straight Tremendous Bowl would solely strengthen his legacy. That is why the Chiefs traded for him and why he thanked the Titans for sending him to Kansas Metropolis.
However he appeared to benefit from the experience alongside the way in which.
“All through my profession, I have been an enormous fan of what Andy has carried out,” Hopkins mentioned. “Going towards these guys in Houston, they gave us some powerful battles, so I all the time simply admired him from afar. I have not been right here lengthy, however Coach Reid has undoubtedly pushed me as a participant. He is all the time watching all the things that you just do and also you need to exit and be excellent. You will not be excellent however you need to strive your greatest. There’s a typical that he has and you’re feeling it within the locker room.
“I am grateful to be right here. I am nonetheless taking it in.”
