Kubiak: "we expect him (Hopkins) to play very,very early"

Very, very early? Bro, if your first round pick isn't slated to start you're probably doing it wrong. I bet Pancakes considers this a scoop.

 

So u r saying Mercilus is a bust and we did it wrong last year? Most rookies don't start game 1......

 

Mercilus didn't start because we already had two capable OLB's. If Hopkins can't beat out Lastar Jean then we have problems.

 

Why wouldn't he?

 

Mercilus was brought in to be a WOLB rush specialist. But he had a guy coming off an 11.5 sack season on that side with another established vet on the other side. The other 2 guys who will be "competing" for the other starting WR job had a grand combined total of 16 receptions last year. If your first round pick, drafted in part because it's a huge position of need, can't come in and start right away, something's wrong. It's not like he's competing with productive vets. Most here would get upset if he couldn't beat out Walter were he still here. But that would at least be somewhat understandable. Not beating out Martin and Jean? Uh.......

I hope this is just Kubes' way of saying that he has high hopes for the kid but that he can't just name him the starter before they've even had OTA or training camp.

 

Lestar Jean is pretty good though.
He's not a scrub.

 

Bro, you don't think I knew about Mercilus when I posted that? Most rookies don't start? Is that you Pancakes? Tell me about the good old days Pancakes, tell me about James Franco.

 

A few catches in the preseason against 2nd and 3rd stringers doesn't really make him good.

 

He is not good now. He has a lot of potential, and he did not live up to it last season. Whether or not it was because Walter was here and took most of the minutes for WR #2, Jean still has to step up if he wants to be in the rotation.

 

Hopkins is better than any other receiver on our team not named Andre Johnson. I'd be surprised as hell if he isn't starting from day one. Kubes is just being diplomatic in his choice of words, but it should be translated to, " Yeah, DeAndre is starting immediately."

 

Eh.. pretty good? No.

Lestar Jean hasn't shown anything really to label him as pretty good.

Hopkins will play early (as he should anyway) because we have no legit #2 receiver on the roster yet. Hopkins is as close as it gets if he pans out. Not really sure what we'll see from Posey because of the Achilles, but I liked him better than Jean before his injury.

 

This is just Kubes-speak. He downplays everything, and makes it seem like less of a deal than it is. In Harbaugh-speak, this is, "You bet your ass he's playing week 1. We didn't take him in the first round to twiddle his thumbs!"

 

People dont draft WR in the first round to pine the bench...WR are either talented enough, or the pick becomes a bust...I have yet to see a player picked in the first round that was a bust that became a better player...

In short...he da** well be starting opposite of Andre Johnson...

No pressure Hopkins, no pressure...

 

A lot of people called Roddy White a disappointment after his first two seasons. Crabtree was considered one as well.

Plenty of WRs struggle to get major playing time or starter snaps their first two seasons or so.

 

dude did you not watch last season, lestar made some plays and good things happened when they threw him the ball..

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000103748/Schaub-to-Jean-for-54-yard-TD
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-fantasy/0ap1000000065551/QB-Schaub-to-WR-Jean-46-yd-pass

seems like every catch he made, at the very least, moved the chains. the guy might be able to solidify our passing game as the 3rd reciver, he has big play ability and if teams focus on dre and hopkins, he and martin could benefit..

 

Very. Very true but often forgotten.

 

No, Pancakes considers this a scoop:

 

They both took 3 full years before they broke out. Crabtree had some injury problems and was behind from his contract holdout, while Roddy suffered from drops.

I see Hopkins stepping into the perfect role with Houston. We've got 2 TE's and a probowl WR to take attention away from him, but he's a more polished, NFL-ready player than either Crabtree or Roddy were coming into the league. Hopkins is a durable WR with enough speed and physicality to come in an make an immediate impact. His rout-running skills and excellent hands are going to give him a huge opportunity to make an impact immediately. It was the perfect pick for a team that thinks they are ready to contend right now.

 

The best thing this offseason was getting rid of Kevin Walter. He was a crutch preventing the use of other WRs. You will see a different offense this season.