Tag: tre’davious white

Perhaps Tre’Davious White has now earned DeAndre Hopkins’ respect?

Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins had some interesting things to say about Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White. He has not backed them up.

Trash talk has all kinds of uses for both teams in any game. For those on the giving side, it can present a united front and a sense of confidence. For those on the receiving end, it can be bulletin board material; the kind of stuff that gets a team even more amped up for an important game.

One thing’s for sure, though — when you’re the one trashing your opponent, you’d better be ready to back it up. In advance of the Texans-Bills playoff game on Saturday, Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins had this to say during an interview with Michael Irvin of the NFL Network regarding Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White, who just might be the NFL’s best cover cornerback this season.

“He’s a good defender,” Hopkins said of White. “Ignorance is bliss. He doesn’t know that he plays in a zone defense, I think, to the extent not like [Darrelle] Revis and those guys played you back in the day on that island when you see a safety all the way on the hash on the other side. I give respect to the guys who can come out there on the island and look me in the face and not play outside because they have safety help.”

Hopkins told Irvin that, per his observations, Jalen Ramsey, Patrick Petersen, Stephon Gilmore, Casey Hayward and Xavier Rhodes would rank ahead of White on his list of top cornerbacks. An odd view, since White is the only cornerback in the NFL this season with six interceptions and no touchdowns allowed, and Rhodes — for example — has allowed four touchdowns this season with no interceptions and an opponent passer rating of 127.8. White, on the other hand, has allowed an opponent passer rating of 46.3.

And in the first half of the game, Hopkins was targeted twice, with no receptions. The Texans kept moving him into the slot, ostensibly to keep him away from White. Meanwhile, Bills quarterback Josh Allen was a more productive receiver than Hopkins, with one catch from receiver John Brown (who’s also been more productive than Hopkins in this game) for a 16-yard touchdown.

While Hopkins did catch a pass with 9:59 left in the third quarter, he then fumbled the ball, due to a forced fumble by none other than… Tre’Davious White.

As we said, if you’re going to plant your flag like Hopkins did, you’d better be able to back it up. Hopkins hasn’t been anywhere close to that ability just yet.