Fansided

5 players who Cardinals need to be great in 2020

By William Schneiderhan

PHOENIX, AZ - DECEMBER 08: Chandler Jones #55 of the Arizona Cardinals in action during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at State Farm Stadium on December 8, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. The Steelers defeated the Cardinals 23-17. (Photo by Rob Leiter via Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ - DECEMBER 08: Chandler Jones #55 of the Arizona Cardinals in action during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at State Farm Stadium on December 8, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. The Steelers defeated the Cardinals 23-17. (Photo by Rob Leiter via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
HOUSTON, TX – NOVEMBER 21: DeAndre Hopkins #10 of the Houston Texans catches a pass for a touchdown during the second half of a game against the Indianapolis Colts at NRG Stadium on November 21, 2019 in Houston, Texas. The Texans defeated the Colts 20-17. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – NOVEMBER 21: DeAndre Hopkins #10 of the Houston Texans catches a pass for a touchdown during the second half of a game against the Indianapolis Colts at NRG Stadium on November 21, 2019 in Houston, Texas. The Texans defeated the Colts 20-17. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

Arizona Cardinals x-factor: DeAndre Hopkins, WR

One entity the team’s offense was missing last season was a true number-one wide receiver. Christian Kirk and future Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald are nice targets, but Murray needed a legit threat to open things up.

Well, Keim answered that need with one of the best receivers in the NFL, DeAndre Hopkins. This trade was rather surprising, especially because the Cardinals did not give up the expected package some thought it would take to get the three-time All-Pro wide out.

Hopkins spent the first seven years of his career catching passes in Houston with the Texans. Recently, he and Deshaun Watson had linked up to become one of the top quarterback-receiver tandems in the league.

Now, Hopkins will look to form another Pro Bowl, All-Pro level bond with Murray like he had with Watson in Houston.

Hopkins needs to be great, like he has usually been, to give the offense a legitimate number-one receiver. Having Hopkins frees up space for others on the offense as he takes double teams and he makes big plays as a dynamic receiver.

Since breaking in to the league in 2013, Hopkins has the most targets of any receiver in the NFL with 1,048. He caught 632 of those targets, which is the third-most in that span. His 54 touchdowns are ranked second, and he has the third-most receiving yards with 8,602.

Kingsbury and Murray drew it up well enough last year. Now, with another tremendous season from Hopkins, expect this offense to be much better this year.

Home/Arizona Cardinals