DeAndre Hopkins

Early years

Hopkins attended D. W. Daniel High School in Central, South Carolina, where he played football and basketball and ran track. During his high school football career, Hopkins had 57 receptions for 1,266 yards and 18 touchdowns on offense and 28 interceptions and five touchdowns on defense.

While on the basketball team, he played as a guard and point guard, scoring 1,453 career points for the D.W. Daniel Lions basketball team. His senior season, 2009–10, the Lions won their third South Carolina State Championship, and Hopkins was named the Independent Mail's player of the year.

College career

Hopkins enrolled in Clemson University, where he played for the Clemson Tigers football team from 2010 to 2012. As a true freshman in 2010, Hopkins was Clemson's leading receiver with 52 receptions for 637 yards and four touchdowns. In addition, he played basketball after his freshman season. As a sophomore in 2011, he had 72 receptions for 978 yards and five touchdowns. In his junior season in 2012, Hopkins had one of the best receiving seasons in ACC history, with an ACC-best 1,405 yards on 82 catches and a school-record 18 touchdowns (second in the nation) earning First Team All-Conference honors. Hopkins, along with junior quarterback Tajh Boyd and wide receiver Sammy Watkins, combined to make one of the most prolific passing offenses in college football and broke many individual and career school records. Hopkins left Clemson with career record for receiving yards (3,020) and career touchdown grabs (27) with at least one score in each of the last 12 games. On January 10, 2013, Hopkins decided to forgo his senior season at Clemson and enter the NFL Draft.

College statistics

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Professional career

Hopkins was drafted in the first round with the 27th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans, in hopes of filling a role opposite veteran Andre Johnson. He was the second wide receiver to be selected, behind Tavon Austin, who went eighth overall to the St. Louis Rams. In addition, he was one of four Clemson Tigers to be selected that year.

Hopkins's selection was just the second time in franchise history that the Texans drafted a wide receiver in the first round, the other selection being Johnson, who was selected third overall in 2003. It was also just the second time in 10 years that the Texans selected an offensive player (the other selection was left tackle Duane Brown) in the first round. On July 24, 2013, Hopkins signed a four-year, $7.62 million contract with Texans, including a signing bonus of $3.93 million. The first three years of the contract were fully guaranteed.

2013 season: Rookie year

In his NFL regular season debut on September 9 in Week 1, Hopkins had five receptions for 66 yards against the San Diego Chargers. On September 15, Hopkins had his first career 100-yard receiving game against the Tennessee Titans. He also had his first career touchdown, a three-yard pass from quarterback Matt Schaub, which was the game-winner in the Texans' 30–24 overtime victory.

Overall, in his rookie season, Hopkins had 52 receptions for 802 yards and two touchdowns.

2014 season

On September 7, 2014, Hopkins scored with a new career-long 76-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick against the Washington Redskins. Two weeks later, he had six receptions for 116 yards against the New York Giants. In the game, Hopkins had a spectacular one-handed catch that was negated by a penalty. On October 20, he recorded another solid performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers with six receptions for 108 yards. Hopkins caught nine passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns in the Texans' Week 13 win over the Tennessee Titans. Hopkins finished the 2014 season as the Texans' leading receiver, recording 76 receptions for 1,210 yards and six touchdowns.

2015 season

Hopkins started the 2015 season on a strong note against the Kansas City Chiefs, catching nine passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Despite his efforts, the Texans lost, 27–20. Two weeks later, Hopkins recorded his first 100-yard receiving game of the season, with eight receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown in a 19–9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Hopkins had an even better game the following week, recording nine receptions for 157 yards in a loss to the Atlanta Falcons. In Week 13 against the Buffalo Bills, Hopkins broke the Texans franchise record for most touchdown receptions in a season, which was formerly held by Andre Johnson, with his tenth reception. His usage spiked in 2015 up to 192 targets, which ranked third among NFL wide receivers, trailing only Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons.

Hopkins finished with career highs in receptions (111), yards (1,521), and touchdowns (11), despite playing with four different quarterbacks. He earned his first career Pro Bowl nomination and was named second-team All-Pro. He was also ranked 19th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.

2016 season

On July 30, 2016, Hopkins did not report to training camp after he announced he was holding out for a new contract. On September 15, 2016, Hopkins was fined $6,076 for an equipment violation regarding improper cleats on his shoes. The cleats were revealed to be Yeezy 350 Boosts cleats designed by Kanye West. In the 2016 season, Hopkins suffered through some small regression as the quarterback play of Brock Osweiler lacked positive consistency. He had 78 receptions for 954 yards and four touchdowns in the 2016 season, all his lowest totals since his rookie season in 2013.

2017 season

On August 31, 2017, Hopkins signed a five-year, $81 million contract extension with $49 million guaranteed with the Texans.

Season statistics

Stats current as of the conclusion of the 2016 season