What You Need to Know:

• Making his Cardinals debut last year, Hopkins finished 4th among WRs in PPR points and 9th in non-PPR.
• He scored as a top-24 PPR WR in 9 of 16 games. That rate of 56.3% ranked 6th highest. Hopkins scored as a top-12 WR in 50% of his games -- 2nd highest behind only Davante Adams.
• He ranked 2nd at his position in catches (115), 2nd in yards (1,407) and 21st in TDs (6).
• Hopkins got unlucky in the TD department.
  • His 5.2% TD rate was the 3rd-lowest mark in his 8-year career and more than 3 percentage points below his average with the Texans over the previous 7 seasons.
  • He tied for 6th among WRs with 10 targets inside the 10-yard line. But he scored on just 2 of those.
• Hopkins garnered a big 27.8% of Cardinals targets.
• His 160 total targets ranked 2nd behind only Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs (168).
• Among 87 WRs with 50+ targets last year, Hopkins ranked 31st in yards per target, 9th in yards per route run and 6th in Pro Football Focus’ receiving grade.
• His production tailed off a bit late last season with QB Kyler Murray dealing with a shoulder injury (and missing about half of the finale with an ankle injury).
  • In his first 10 games, Hopkins averaged 7.2 catches, 91.2 yards and .4 TDs.
  • Over his final 6, he averaged 7.2 catches, 82.5 yards and .3 TDs.
• Hopkins played all 16 games last season but dealt with hamstring, ankle, neck and back injuries throughout the year.
• He’s missed just 2 games over his 8-year career.
• Hopkins now heads into his 2nd season with Murray and HC Kliff Kingsbury.
• WR Larry Fitzgerald, who ranked 3rd on the team with 72 targets last year, has not been re-signed as of early June. The soon-to-be 38-year-old might retire. Arizona added veteran WR A.J. Green and rookie WR Rondale Moore. But Hopkins should dominate targets again in 2021.

Draft Sharks Bottom Line:

Hopkins was excellent in his Cardinals debut last year, finishing 4th among WRs in PPR points and 9th in non-PPR. And that was despite getting a bit unlucky with only 6 TDs.

He could be even better in his 2nd season with HC Kliff Kingsbury and QB Kyler Murray. Most importantly, Hopkins should again be among the league leaders in targets.

He’s a safe bet for another WR1 finish with a ceiling extending to the top of the position.