The Baltimore Ravens quietly signed DeAndre Hopkins in March to little fanfare. The three-time first-team All-Pro, however, is already turning heads in Charm City.
"First of all, I think he's a heck of a football player," head coach John Harbaugh said of Hopkins this week, via the team's official website. "Obviously, you saw him today. He's a gifted guy. He's a talented guy. He's going to be a big-body, contested-catch receiver for us, certainly.
"He's moving great. Plus, he brings all that experience. He's been in big games before. He's made plays in the big games. He knows how to make plays. There's not going to be any situation that's going to be too big for him, but I just thought he and Lamar (Jackson) looked really good today out there together. It was nice to see."
A perennial Pro Bowler early in his career, Hopkins didn't provide the spark for the Kansas City Chiefs last year after a midseason trade -- 437 yards and four touchdowns in 10 regular-season games, and just three catches for 29 yards and one score in three postseason tilts.
The disappointing production in K.C. led to questions about whether the soon-to-be 33-year-old still has it. Those in Baltimore seem to scoff at the notion.
"He looks great," tight end Mark Andrews said of Hopkins. "He looks really, really good. He's been making some big plays, and I think he's going to be great for our offense, just being versatile, having a guy that catches the ball extremely well, runs really fluid routes and knows the game well. And he looks like, when he's out here, he's flying around. He's looked really good."
Last year's production in Kansas City might have been a disappointment, but Hopkins is just a year from going for 1,000-plus yards in 2023 with Tennessee. The 2024 campaign was the first since 2016 in which Hopkins played more than 11 games and didn't break the millennium mark.
All receivers lose a step at some point with age, making it harder for them to separate from defenders. Hopkins' big body and vice-grip hands can help mitigate that issue.
In Baltimore, the veteran won't carry the load. Instead, he can be an ancillary piece for Jackson alongside Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and tight ends Andrews and Isaiah Likely. Hopkins is unlikely to put up gaudy numbers, but his presence, particularly in the red zone and on key third downs, can make life easier on Jackson.
