ESPN rated the No. 1 receivers for every NFL team, bracketed them into four groups, and put Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins at the top.
The four groups were “Clear No. 1s,” “Not-quite No. 1s,” “Emerging No. 1s,” and “Committee attacks.” At the top of the “Clear No. 1s” group was Hopkins.
ESPN had each team reporter add a 2018 outlook for each receiver, and then ESPN fantasy expert, Mike Clay, looked at each receiver’s target-share projections, which, “is the percentage of the team’s total targets handled by a single player.” Hopkins had 33.9 percent of the Texans’ targets in 2017, the most in the NFL.
Projected target share: 33 percent. Hopkins paced the NFL in target share last season, and his 508 targets over the past three seasons are 367 more than any other Houston player. There’s a large gap between him and No. 2 WR Will Fuller on the depth chart. — Clay
Sarah Barshop, the Texans reporter for ESPN, set the table for Hopkins this season, but didn’t really deliver a prediction.
2018 outlook: After seeing what Hopkins did in quarterback Deshaun Watson‘s six starts last season — 38 catches for 551 yards and six touchdowns — the Texans have high expectations for their No. 1 receiver in 2018. Hopkins said it gives him “chills sometimes just to think what [he and Watson] did in the little time we had together,” adding that he thinks the pair can be the best quarterback-receiver duo in the NFL. The Texans made sure Hopkins will be in Houston for the foreseeable future by signing him to a five-year, $81 million contract last August. — Sarah Barshop, ESPN Texans reporter
It is a very optimistic season ahead for Houston. Watson is coming back from an ACL injury and Hopkins appears to be hitting his stride as a top-tier wideout in the league. It is true that there is a drop off between Hopkins and the rest of the receiving corps. However, Fuller came alive in the three-game stretch between Oct. 8 and Oct. 29, posting nine catches for 244 yards and five touchdowns. Watson sustained his season-ending injury on Nov. 2 in practice, and then Fuller only caught 15 passes for 144 yards thereafter.
Perhaps the talent gap between Hopkins and the rest of the Texans receiving corps is commensurate with the health of Watson.