Houston Texans: Why the Watson-Hopkins connection is truly special

The Houston Texans have a deadly combination between DeAndre Hopkins and Deshaun Watson, here’s why this connection is so dangerous and special.

The Houston Texans, largely, have been a team mired in mediocrity for the vast majority of their history. They’ve had some really good seasons but they’re usually bookended some pretty miserable ones.

They’ve also had some pretty great players who have done some incredible things like Andre Johnson. But, the few players the Texans have had like Johnson have usually been surrounded by far lesser players. For a while, Johnson had Matt Schaub tossing him the pigskin and Schaub was more than serviceable at QB but he was never able to elevate himself to that elite level.

But, when Schaub and Johnson were both at their best, there was no one else around to help relieve the burden. So, in 2013, the Houston Texans went out and drafted DeAndre Hopkins in the first round of the NFL draft. Hopkins was set up as the heir apparent to Johnson and the future at the position while attempting to relieve pressure on both Schaub and Johnson.

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Adding Hopkins was supposed to elongate what Schaub and Johnson were able to do on the gridiron but it didn’t exactly go as planned. Schaub only started eight games in 2013 and was gone after that. Johnson had one last elite year in 2013 but the team moved on after the 2014 season.

So, the future was ready to go in 2015, and if it wasn’t ready, it had better get there soon. Hopkins was ready and really began to showcase his elite talent and why he would quickly climb up the ranks of best receiver in the NFL. However, the Houston Texans appeared to be holding back his potential by what they did with the quarterback position.

The Texans had five quarterbacks throw passes in 2015 and four of those guys started games. Not a great sign right there. Brian Hoyer led the way followed by Ryan Mallett, TJ Yates, Brandon Weeden, and BJ Daniels. Somehow, with that cast of misfits, Hopkins managed over 1,500 yards. There is the beginning of his case for the most elite receiver in the NFL.

Naturally, the Texans sought to revamp their quarterback play in 2016. The went out and made the big splash signing of Brock Osweiler to come in and be the savior at QB and be the stalwart to lead the offense and get the ball to Hopkins. However, this tanked so incredibly hard that Hopkins couldn’t even manage 1,000 yards in the season.

With how abysmal Osweiler’s play was, the Houston Texans again sought out to revamp the quarterback position. They did the NFL’s version of a tried and true salary dump and then traded up in the draft to select their future at the position, Deshaun Watson. It took one half of football for Watson to take over as quarterback and all of Texans fans quarterback woes evaporated.

Hopkins and Watson began to develop an immediate rapport and the potential of the two became clear, they could easily become the best QB-WR combo in franchise history and begin to climb the rankings of QB-WR combos in NFL history. Unfortunately, Watson tore his ACL and the beauty of this tandem was seemingly over before it started.

Fortunately, Watson was ready to go to start the 2018 season so, the pairing of Hopkins and Watson was ready to go once more and the magic has continued once again. While targeting Hopkins, Watson has a 118.3 which is really good. They also have gone for 950 yards and 8 touchdowns. This combination is simply magic, it is truly special and dangerous.

Against Washington, Hopkins tied his own franchise record for most consecutive games with a touchdown grab with five. He also continued a trend that has him tops in the NFL currently. He has gone for more than 50 yards in a game for 19 games in a row now. That is a franchise record and is the NFL’s active record. It also is now the fourth-longest streak in the NFL, surpassing Jerry Rice and Warren Wells‘ 18 games in a row.

Simply put, the combination of Hopkins and Watson is absolutely deadly and should incite fear in every NFL defense they come across. They are both incredibly talented players independent of the other but together they create something special. In 17 career games played together, they have connected for touchdowns 15 times. Insane.

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Hopkins can catch anything thrown his direction as he truly has some of, if not the best hands in the NFL. Watson has a gunslinger mentality in the vein of Brett Favre. He believes, for good reason, that he can fit the ball in any window, no matter how tight. The ball flies out of his hand like a bullet out of a gun.

Together, they’re unstoppable and that has been showcased this season. Take a second with me and imagine the heights these two can rise to together. Did you do it? Is your mind blown? It should be. If Hopkins and Watson can stay healthy together and continue to learn every nuance of each other’s game, this pairing could truly be one of the best in NFL history. They match up with each other’s strengths perfectly and help cover up each other’s deficiencies incredibly well. Enjoy what you’re watching, ladies and gentlemen, because it’s special.

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Watson has thrown for 2,597 yards and 18 touchdowns. He has added 275 more yards and another touchdown on the ground. Hopkins has caught 950 of those yards and eight of those touchdowns.

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