DeAndre Hopkins says Texans’ Deshaun Watson is an elite QB, but will miss his ‘best target’

Arizona Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins says Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson is elite, but he will be impacted by not having his “best target.”

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New Arizona Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins spent the last three seasons of his Houston Texans tenure playing with his favorite quarterback in Deshaun Watson. The Clemson tandem helped the Texans win two AFC South titles and a playoff game in their time together.

“Deshaun is a warrior,” Hopkins told “Jalen & Jacoby” on ESPN. “Deshaun is a competitor. As long as he has the football in his hand, that’s all he cares about. I know that from knowing him personally over the years. Deshaun’s an elite quarterback, one of the best quarterbacks I’ve had a chance to play with so far.”

However, Hopkins believes that Watson, while surrounded by Brandin Cooks, Will Fuller, Randall Cobb, and Kenny Stills, won’t be playing with his best receiver in 2020. Furthermore, it will impact his play.

Said Hopkins: “That’s my boy. I wish him nothing but the best. I’m in the NFC. So, I hope I see him in the Super Bowl. Obviously his best target is a guy you can depend on, not being there for him — I’m pretty sure that would impact any quarterback’s game.”

While what Hopkins said may or may not prove to be true this year, another thing the three-time All-Pro believes about his former field general is his ability to make other players around him better.

“If he’s able to make players better, and I’m pretty sure that that’s what he’s going to do, he’s going to rally his team up to help him win,” said Hopkins.

The Texans agreed to trade Hopkins to the Cardinals on March 16 for former All-Pro running back David Johnson, a 2020 second-round pick, and swapped their 2020 fourth-rounder for Arizona’s 2021 fourth-rounder.

Trading Hopkins for coach and general manager Bill O’Brien was about more than ridding the organization of a player who wanted a contract extension; it was an opportunity to help Houston add “layers” of productive players, according to O’Brien on April 16.

“We’re working tirelessly to get past that to get to the ultimate goal of the Super Bowl, but after studying teams that win in January, win in February, our staff is more convicted than ever that we must be prepared to have layers upon layers of productive players who can build on the tradition that we have established here of winning the AFC South four out of the last five years and to try to get beyond that,” said O’Brien.