The Titans are finalizing a deal to trade WR DeAndre Hopkins to the Chiefs. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Tennessee will get a fifth-round pick that could become a fourth-rounder.
Hopkins opened this season with limited playing time, garnering sub-50% snap shares in each of the first four games. That increased with season highs in total snaps each of the past two weeks.
The move to Kansas City obviously gives him huge upgrades in:
Hopkins figures to duke it out with TE Travis Kelce for the team target lead going forward, improving a WR corps that was down to Xavier Worthy, Justin Watson, Skyy Moore, and Mecole Hardman after JuJu Smith-Schuster left Sunday's game early.
Hopkins remains primarily an outside WR, running just 22% of pass plays from the slot this season for the Titans. That might shift some in a Kansas City offense that traditionally moves WRs around more. But Hopkins seems like a good fit opposite Worthy, with Smith-Schuster as primary slot man.
Hopkins carries WR2-level scoring potential with the Chiefs. But it probably makes more sense to start our expectations in WR3 territory.
We'll see how quickly he can ramp up his role and target share.
Improved outside-WR play should help Kelce, who's working on a career-low 8.8 yards per catch -- after setting his previous low at 10.6 last year.
Hopkins might not be bad news for Worthy either. The veteran shouldn't be near the target hog he was for most of his time in Houston and Arizona, and he's bound to draw more defensive attention than Watson. That could help unlock Worthy's big-play potential.
Worthy has seen his two largest target shares the past two games.
I wouldn't bet on Smith-Schuster staying fantasy-relevant as the likely No. 4 option in this passing game.
Mahomes might be the biggest winner of all. His 231.5 passing yards per game so far this season sits 29.9 short of last year's average -- which came in 23.2 yards per game short of his previous low as a starter.
He looks much more like a top-12 fantasy QB going forward.
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