How watching Joshua Dobbs gave DeAndre Hopkins confidence in Tennessee Titans' future
DeAndre Hopkins sees the vision.
Hopkins officially signed with the Tennessee Titans Monday, just two days before the start of training camp. He's the latest addition in the Titans' offseason-long offensive overhaul, an attempt to reinvigorate a unit that floundered in the final months of last season with a seven-game losing streak as the team missed the playoffs.
Interestingly, Hopkins points to that losing streak as one of the things that gives him confidence about the direction the Titans are heading.
"They were in a lot of games before a lot of people got hurt," Hopkins said. "I’ve always kept up with (coach Mike) Vrabel and the Titans, and Derrick Henry is one of my friends so I try to watch all the games he’s played. I think last year when (quarterback Joshua Dobbs) came in and those guys were very close to still winning, that right there woke my eyes up to see that they’re only a couple pieces away from being where they want to be."
The offense Hopkins slots into won't resemble the one Dobbs led in Week 18 against the Jacksonville Jaguars all that closely. The Titans have a new offensive coordinator, a new passing game coordinator, a new run game coordinator and a new offensive line coach. Dobbs isn't the break-glass-in-case-of-emergency quarterback anymore with Ryan Tannehill back from injury. There'll be a minimum three new starters on the offensive line, four while tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere is suspended for the first six games of the season.
And there's Hopkins. No one has caught more passes or has more receiving yards than Hopkins in the past 10 seasons. Even at 31 years old, Hopkins arrives in Nashville as the Titans' No. 1 receiver and is arguably the best receiver in the AFC South.
The Titans lost that Week 18 game by four points. During the losing streak, they also lost by four to the Cincinnati Bengals and three against the Los Angeles Chargers. That's three narrow losses against playoff teams while dealing with injuries to players like Tannehill, Taylor Lewan, Ben Jones, Treylon Burks, Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry, Kristian Fulton and Denico Autry.
Hopkins says he was drawn to the Titans' style of play. The physicality. The effort. The things Vrabel takes the most pride in and the aspects of the team that aren't changing even as the players and assistant coaches do.
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"I think if you have a foundation and there’s things that you believe in, that you know work, you don’t make a bunch of changes there," Vrabel said. "There are obviously changes and things that happen, whether that’s with players or some of the coaching staff. But I believe in the foundation we have here."
Wide receiver isn't a solo position like quarterback or kicker. Even the most run-dependent teams usually use two or three receivers every play. As such, Hopkins doesn't just make the Titans better at No. 1 receiver. He makes the No. 2 and No. 3 and No. 4 and No. 5 targets better too. He draws attention away from the run game to clear lanes for Henry. He's a paradigm-shifting player, opting into the foundation Vrabel believes in.
His first order of business is building chemistry with Tannehill. That's the key, as he sees it, to his longevity. He has always made sure he goes the extra mile to be communicative with his quarterbacks. He appreciated how Tannehill and his wife visited with Hopkins when he took his free agent visit to Nashville, and he wants to keep growing their relationship beyond there.
"One out of 10, I think it’s a 10," Hopkins said when asked his confidence level in Tannehill. "I think he’s a great quarterback."
Hopkins has a sunny view of the Titans' whole offense. He's familiar with offensive coordinator Tim Kelly from their days together with the Houston Texans. He's close friends with Henry. He's excited to be a mentor for Burks and the team's young receivers.
He says the Titans were only a couple of pieces away last year. He didn't say directly what the missing piece was, but it's pretty easy to read between the lines on that one.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans: DeAndre Hopkins credits Derrick Henry, Joshua Dobbs
