DeAndre Hopkins Suspension Could Plummet Cardinals' NFC West Odds

The Arizona Cardinals are going to really need draft-day acquisition Marquise Brown after all, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Monday that DeAndre Hopkins will be suspended six games for violating the NFL's Performance Enhancing Drug policy.

This is a massive blow for Arizona, as Hopkins is one of the best receivers in the NFL, and the team suffered without him at the end of the 2021 regular season.

The Cardinals averaged 30.2 points per game in 2021 with Hopkins in the lineup, but following his season-ending injury, Arizona averaged just 18.8 points per game over the final five games of the regular season.

Not good.

With quarterback Kyler Murray already unhappy about not receiving an extension from the team, losing Hopkins to a suspension is an unwelcome addition to Arizona's plate this offseason. The team will rely on Brown and second-year wideout Rondale Moore to really carry things on the outside.

The Cardinals nearly won the NFC West in 2021, but they fell apart down the stretch, which seems to be a theme under head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

Now, the Cardinals are +325 (third) to win the NFC West in 2022 at WynnBET, and those odds may drop now that Hopkins is going to miss the first six games of the season.

Odds to Win the NFC West Division in 2022

• Los Angeles Rams: +135
• San Francisco 49ers: +160
• Arizona Cardinals: +325
• Seattle Seahawks: +1200

Arizona's offense simply isn't the same when it doesn't have Hopkins drawing a ton of attention on the outside, so it's hard to back the Cardinals at this preseason price until they prove that they can succeed with DHop out.

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