The Texans released Andre Johnson, so one school of thought is that they’ll have to use DeAndre Hopkins even more this year. Johnson caught 85 passes last year, and they don’t have much else at that position.
But I don’t think they can do too much more with Hopkins. He was pretty heavily involved last year, after all, catching 76 passes for 1,210 yards.
Hopkins, in fact, accounted for 35 percent of Houston’s receiving yards last year. No other player in the league accounted for that much of his team’s receiving production.
That’s a pretty big total. In the last 10 years, only 27 other receivers have accounted for 35 percent of their team’s yards.
| RECEIVERS WITH 35% OF TEAM'S YARDS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Receiver | Yards | Team | Pct |
| 2012 | Brandon Marshall, Chi. | 1,508 | 3,298 | 45.7% |
| 2005 | Steve Smith, Car. | 1,563 | 3,485 | 44.8% |
| 2005 | Santana Moss, Wash. | 1,483 | 3,346 | 44.3% |
| 2008 | Steve Smith, Car. | 1,421 | 3,288 | 43.2% |
| 2006 | Lee Evans, Buff. | 1,292 | 3,051 | 42.3% |
| 2005 | Joey Galloway, T.B. | 1,287 | 3,171 | 40.6% |
| 2008 | Calvin Johnson, Det. | 1,331 | 3,299 | 40.3% |
| 2008 | Roddy White, Atl. | 1,382 | 3,440 | 40.2% |
| 2012 | Andre Johnson, Hou. | 1,598 | 4,046 | 39.5% |
| 2013 | Vincent Jackson, T.B. | 1,224 | 3,181 | 38.5% |
| 2012 | Calvin Johnson, Det. | 1,964 | 5,139 | 38.2% |
| 2006 | Andre Johnson, Hou. | 1,147 | 3,032 | 37.8% |
| 2013 | Josh Gordon, Clev. | 1,646 | 4,372 | 37.6% |
| 2010 | Roddy White, Atl. | 1,389 | 3,725 | 37.3% |
| 2013 | Anquan Boldin, S.F. | 1,179 | 3,210 | 36.7% |
| 2010 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 1,162 | 3,189 | 36.4% |
| 2005 | Chad Johnson, Cin. | 1,432 | 3,935 | 36.4% |
| 2006 | Javon Walker, Den. | 1,084 | 2,995 | 36.2% |
| 2007 | Reggie Wayne, Ind. | 1,510 | 4,175 | 36.2% |
| 2011 | Larry Fitzgerald, Ariz. | 1,411 | 3,954 | 35.7% |
| 2012 | A.J. Green, Cin. | 1,350 | 3,807 | 35.5% |
| 2011 | Brandon Marshall, Mia. | 1,214 | 3,425 | 35.4% |
| 2006 | Joey Galloway, T.B. | 1,057 | 2,994 | 35.3% |
| 2011 | Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 1,159 | 3,288 | 35.2% |
| 2007 | Brandon Marshall, Den. | 1,325 | 3,759 | 35.2% |
| 2008 | Andre Johnson, Hou. | 1,575 | 4,474 | 35.2% |
| 2014 | DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 1,210 | 3,460 | 35.0% |
| 2009 | Chad Ochocinco, Cin. | 1,047 | 3,134 | 33.4% |
My expectation is that Hopkins will catch a few more passes but maybe still finish with about the same amount of yards. He got downfield for a lot of big plays last year, averaging 15.9 yards per catch. This year, he may catch more of the shorter, possession-type balls that Johnson was catching last year.
—Ian Allan