When the Texans released Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins posted a fantastic photo of the two of them on Instagram that perfectly represented their relationship. Hopkins spent his first two NFL seasons learning from Johnson.
That tutelage really showed last season when Hopkins caught 76 passes for 1,210 yards, his first 1,000-yard season. Among players drafted in the past two seasons, Hopkins' production was better than everyone except the Giants' Odell Beckham.
"He had a really productive year," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. "The thing that we really like about Hop and that we want him to continue to do is his work ethic. He’s a hungry player. He works every single day. He came into the spring a year ago and he was learning the offense and thinking out there, then all of a sudden you could see all the work he put in and learning, he just took off."
Hopkins' development comes into focus more this offseason as he's now the focal point of the Texans' receiving corps.
"We just want to see him continue and progress," O'Brien said. "We think he can be one of the best, we think he is one of the best. We have a lot of confidence in him and we’re looking forward to seeing him progress when the offseason program starts."