He was good because of the decent pass rush. Now that Hou pass rush is trash, he's getting exposed. Kevin Johnson is already on his way of being better than Kareem Jackson.
I know it's expected against the Jags but number of Texans on the "Best Players At Every Position" by PFF: Hopkins, Clark, and Watt Spoiler Quarterback: Carson Palmer, Cardinals (+5.6) An ugly interception may have ruined the perception of Palmer’s performance, but despite the Cardinals’ disappointing defeat, he continued his tremendous season with a number of pinpoint throws. Running back: Chris Ivory, Jets (+2.5) Another big day from Ivory, who is relishing life under Todd Bowles. He forced another three missed tackles on his way to 146 yards on the ground. Fullback: Michael Burton, Lions (+2.7) You wouldn’t think Burton was a rookie with how well he’s taken to the NFL. He was excellent against the Bears, not for the first time this season. Tight end: Jimmy Graham, Seahawks (+3.0) The Seahawks may have lost, but they possibly unleashed Jimmy Graham for the first time. The former Saint just beat out Ben Watson for the spot on this team, with his 140 yards on 10 targets. Wide receivers: Keenan Allen, Chargers (+5.8) and DeAndre Hopkins, Texans (+3.7) Our two receivers had an incredible 29 targets between them. It’s not about the volume of targets they had, though, but rather what they did with them that got them on this team. Allen caught every single ball thrown his way, while Hopkins is making the Texans competitive on offense with his brilliance. Tackles: Chris Hairston, Chargers (+4.3) and Chris Clark, Texans (+5.8) Not two well-known names around the league, but two who nonetheless were excellent in Week 6. Clark is on the team due to the strength of some fantastic run blocking, while Hairston was superb in pass protection, allowing just one hurry. Guards: Andrew Norwell, Panthers (+4.3) and T.J. Lang, Packers (+4.3) Cap purgatory has forced the Panthers to outperform the rest of the league come draft season, especially when it comes to undrafted free agents. Norwell highlights this with a big run blocking effort, continuing a season in which he is earning legitimate Pro Bowl consideration. Lang is a more familiar name, and while he has had a couple of poor games by his standards, he was at his best against the Chargers. Center: Ryan Kalil, Panthers (+5.5) The best center in the league? It’s been Kalil this year, and performances like the one against Seattle show why. Each week we put forward a hybrid defense that features two edge rushers (4-3 defensive ends or 3-4 outside linebackers), three players on the “interior” of the defensive line (3-4 defensive ends or defensive tackles) and two linebackers (all inside linebackers and 4-3 outside linebackers). Defensive interior – ends: J.J. Watt, Texans (+7.1) and Kawann Short, Panthers (+5.4) It was the good Watt this week, who was phenomenal rushing the passer with 11 quarterback disruptions. The excellent Short was fantastic himself, with six of his own along with some strong work in the run game. Defensive interior – nose: Brandon Williams, Ravens (+5.8) No nose tackle is playing as well as Williams. He disrupts A-gaps like it’s going out of fashion. Edge Rushers: Cameron Wake, Dolphins (+7.8) and Cameron Jordan, Saints (+5.1) Our two edge rushers combined for a somewhat decent seven sacks between them. Not too bad at all. Wake looked unleashed under the Dolphins new management, while Jordan showed his ability to win whatever technique he’s lined up at. Linebackers: Luke Kuechly, Panthers (+3.5) and Christian Jones, Bears (+2.7) You think Kuechly was happy to be back on the field? 11 tackles, eight of them defensive stops, highlight a player who was all over the field. Jones wasn’t quite as disruptive, but made a mark with positive marks in coverage and against the run. Cornerbacks: Malcolm Butler, Patriots (+3.4) and Patrick Peterson, Cardinals (+3.0) After getting taken to town by Antonio Brown in Week 1, Butler has really delivered as the Patriots’ top cornerback, with his effort against Indy his best yet. Peterson is one of the “name” cornerbacks who is actually playing up to his reputation level, with his grade against Pittsburgh his highest of the year. Safeties: Earl Thomas, Seahawks (+4.6) and Marcus Gilchrist, Jets (+4.0) Our safety combo combined for two interceptions and three pass breakups to make this team. Thomas, in particular, was fantastic, giving a glimpse into why he is regarded so highly. Kicker: Chris Boswell, Steelers A reassuring effort after the recent struggles from Josh Scobee. Punter: Pat McAfee, Colts His brilliance makes that decision to fake punt all the more, shall we say, interesting. Returner: Adam Jones, Bengals Always likely to change field position. https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/10/19/best-players-at-every-position-for-week-6/
I'm extremely happy to get the win but let's face it: The Jags have one of the dumbest coaching staffs in the league. Their head coach does not deserve the position. The decision not to double DeAndre directly led to their downfall in this game while Blake Bortles proved (again) that he is not the answer for them at QB. That franchise is a total joke. It would be a a massive screw up by the Texans if they don't sweep both games against this sorry mess of a football team.
He is, but I'd guess he's still about average as far as the entire league is concerned. Neither he nor Kareem are close to being a number 1 corner (on a good team), and with weak safeties and little pass rush they look even worse. Speaking of Safeties, can we talk about how horrendous of a move it was to let Glover Quin walk a couple of years ago for Ed freakin' Reed? I'm so tired of having band-aids back there.
Maybe it fits better in another thread....but Hopkins is sensational. He's on pace to have one of the greatest seasons a WR ever had in the NFL...and he's doing it with Hoyer/Mallett.
Yep... been discussing it in the Andre Johnson tribute thread of all places. He's literally catching everything that's thrown in his general direction... its unbelievable.
it is pretty phenomenal. It's flat out ridiculous how he routinely makes VERY difficult catches. I don't think there is anyone better at playing the ball and body control. He makes it look too easy.
I'll only deem him the best WR since Jerry Rice once he catches a ball blind against the defender's back like that college kid did.
I think this actually helps him put up more numbers because lesser quality QBs go to their WR1 more often. If you look at Brady or Rodgers, they are much better at finding the open receiver and spreading the ball around. Chances are, with a different QB, Hopkins would still be making the ridiculous catches, but he'd have less targets...resulting in less catches/yards. Not saying that you're suggesting this, but I heard all the time, "could you imagine what Andre would have done with a real QB?"...and the answer is that he probably wouldnt have as many catches or yards, but would have a few more TDs. Although, to be honest, I just think AJ isnt a good redzone target...whereas we can see that Hopkins is much better in that department.
Well let's look at the other top targeted WR and who's throwing them the ball. Demaryius Thomas - Peyton Manning Julio Jones - Matt Ryan Keenan Allen - Phillip Rivers Let's look at last year: Demaryius Thomas - Peyton Manning Antonio Brown - Ben Roethlisberger Julio Jones - Matt Ryan Jordy Nelson - Aaron Rodgers Those all look like good QBs to me. Seems like even a good QB will target their #1 WR a bunch. Going by QB rating, Bortles was the worst starting QB last year, and he spread the ball around a lot. His top 4 receivers had 110, 97, 81 and 68 targets respectively.
The point is more along the lines of...having a good QB doesnt mean you'll get more catches. It's not like AJ80 would have had seasons with 150 catches, 2200 yards, and 18 TDs with a "real" QB.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Texans safety Lonnie Ballentine didn't tear his ACL, but did tear his PCL and MCL and dislocated his left knee</p>— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/AaronWilson_NFL/status/656187597186707457">October 19, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It is silly to see too many people dismiss AJ's best seasons as "if only"s... If you catch 115/1,500, you don't have a QB issue. And, for the record, Matt Schaub, for 4-5 years, was a very good QB. That's what most disappointed me about AJ's departure - he fed the LCD with an unwarranted parting shot at the Schaub.
If you're one of the greats that dynamic QB will throw you the ball often ask Montana, and Young. Another thing Shorts been targeted alot and so was Washington before the injury. So Hoyer is spreading the love around. But when it's money time, you go to your Superstar.
