DeAndre Hopkins is still on the free agent market, and recent reports have the Patriots and Titans the two main contenders. Tennessee, it seems, is most aggressive -- i.e., offering the most money. This is not ideal for several reasons.
For one thing, the Titans fit nobody's idea of an aggressive, up-tempo offense that will give Hopkins his most value. Hopkins' presence would also effectively destroy the sleeper appeal of last year's first-rounder Treylon Burks, otherwise poised to be the team's No. 1 wideout. It's debatable whether this passing game can support one top performer at wide receiver, and really unlikely it could produce two.
Looking at last season, Tennessee was one of the two worst offenses for wide receiver production (many should be able to guess the other one: Baltimore). Even accepting the lesser passing game and modest personnel at wide receiver, it was a crummy offense as far as producing a player who accounted for a respectable share of what production there was. That is to say, even if the passing game is better this year, there's not a good track record to suggest it will be a wide receiver who dominates the numbers it compiles.
The table below shows all wide receivers who accounted for more than 15 percent of their team's receiving yards last year; their stats in the first three columns, their percentage of the team total in the next three columns. The only team not to put any wide receivers on this list was Baltimore. The only other team not to have a wide receiver account for at least 17 percent of their passing yards was Tennessee, whose top performer was Robert Woods; he had 16 percent of the receiving yards. Hopkins was better than (18 percent) that even while only playing in nine games.
| WIDE RECEIVER PRODUCTION, 2022 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | I.Rec | I.Yds | I.TD | %Rec | %Yds | %TD |
| Justin Jefferson, Min. | 128 | 1809 | 8 | 29% | 38% | 27% |
| Davante Adams, L.V. | 100 | 1516 | 14 | 28% | 36% | 50% |
| Tyreek Hill, Mia. | 119 | 1710 | 7 | 32% | 36% | 23% |
| CeeDee Lamb, Dall. | 107 | 1359 | 9 | 30% | 35% | 32% |
| A.J. Brown, Phi. | 88 | 1496 | 11 | 25% | 34% | 44% |
| Stefon Diggs, Buff. | 108 | 1429 | 11 | 30% | 33% | 31% |
| Terry McLaurin, Was. | 77 | 1191 | 5 | 22% | 31% | 21% |
| Amari Cooper, Cle. | 78 | 1160 | 9 | 23% | 31% | 47% |
| Drake London, Atl. | 72 | 0866 | 4 | 28% | 30% | 24% |
| Jaylen Waddle, Mia. | 75 | 1356 | 8 | 20% | 28% | 27% |
| DeVonta Smith, Phi. | 95 | 1196 | 7 | 27% | 27% | 28% |
| DJ Moore, Car. | 63 | 0888 | 7 | 24% | 27% | 44% |
| Garrett Wilson, NYJ | 83 | 1103 | 4 | 23% | 27% | 27% |
| Christian Kirk, Jac. | 84 | 1108 | 8 | 21% | 27% | 32% |
| Chris Olave, N.O. | 72 | 1042 | 4 | 21% | 26% | 17% |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown, Det. | 106 | 1161 | 6 | 28% | 26% | 21% |
| Brandon Aiyuk, S.F. | 78 | 1015 | 8 | 23% | 25% | 27% |
| DK Metcalf, Sea. | 90 | 1048 | 6 | 23% | 24% | 20% |
| Jerry Jeudy, Den. | 67 | 0972 | 6 | 19% | 24% | 33% |
| Tyler Lockett, Sea. | 84 | 1033 | 9 | 21% | 24% | 30% |
| Diontae Johnson, Pitt. | 86 | 0882 | 0 | 24% | 24% | 0% |
| Michael Pittman, Ind. | 99 | 0925 | 4 | 25% | 24% | 24% |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 77 | 1124 | 6 | 15% | 24% | 23% |
| Cooper Kupp, LAR | 75 | 0812 | 6 | 22% | 23% | 38% |
| JaMarr Chase, Cin. | 87 | 1046 | 9 | 21% | 23% | 26% |
| Tee Higgins, Cin. | 74 | 1029 | 7 | 18% | 23% | 20% |
| Donovan Peoples-Jones, Cle. | 61 | 0839 | 3 | 18% | 23% | 16% |
| George Pickens, Pitt. | 52 | 0801 | 4 | 14% | 22% | 33% |
| Chris Godwin, T.B. | 104 | 1023 | 3 | 21% | 22% | 12% |
| Darius Slayton, NYG | 46 | 0724 | 2 | 13% | 21% | 12% |
| Jakobi Meyers, N.E. | 67 | 0804 | 6 | 19% | 21% | 32% |
| Courtland Sutton, Den. | 64 | 0829 | 2 | 19% | 21% | 11% |
| Allen Lazard, G.B. | 60 | 0788 | 6 | 16% | 20% | 22% |
| Zay Jones, Jac. | 82 | 0823 | 5 | 21% | 20% | 20% |
| Gabriel Davis, Buff. | 48 | 0836 | 7 | 13% | 19% | 20% |
| Brandin Cooks, Hou. | 57 | 0699 | 3 | 16% | 19% | 15% |
| Darnell Mooney, Chi. | 40 | 0493 | 2 | 18% | 19% | 11% |
| Mike Williams, LAC | 63 | 0895 | 4 | 13% | 19% | 15% |
| Olamide Zaccheaus, Atl. | 40 | 0533 | 3 | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| DeAndre Hopkins, Ari. | 64 | 0717 | 3 | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| Marquise Brown, Ari. | 67 | 0709 | 3 | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster, K.C. | 78 | 0933 | 3 | 18% | 18% | 7% |
| Curtis Samuel, Was. | 64 | 0656 | 4 | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Tyler Boyd, Cin. | 58 | 0762 | 5 | 14% | 17% | 14% |
| Richie James, NYG | 57 | 0569 | 4 | 16% | 17% | 24% |
| Mack Hollins, L.V. | 57 | 0690 | 4 | 16% | 16% | 14% |
| Robert Woods, Ten. | 53 | 0527 | 2 | 19% | 16% | 13% |
| Parris Campbell, Ind. | 63 | 0623 | 3 | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| Josh Palmer, LAC | 72 | 0769 | 3 | 15% | 16% | 12% |
| Christian Watson, G.B. | 41 | 0611 | 7 | 11% | 16% | 26% |
| Keenan Allen, LAC | 66 | 0752 | 4 | 14% | 16% | 15% |
| Deebo Samuel, S.F. | 56 | 0632 | 2 | 17% | 16% | 7% |
Tennessee didn't have a passing game at all for about a third of the season a year ago, with Ryan Tannehill hurt. Things should be better this year. And the table also highlights why the Titans are -- should be -- interested in bringing in Hopkins. He'd be the No. 1, and he'd be a big plus for their offense.
But a lot more negatives (for him, and for Burks) in this pairing. I'm not a big Mac Jones fan, but if it really is down to Tennessee and New England for Hopkins' services, better he end up there.
--Andy Richardson