Fantasy Football Week 8: DeAndre Hopkins Should Be in Store for Big Week

By Tyler Ruby on October 24, 2014

If you have DeAndre Hopkins on your fantasy football squad, you need to be starting him this week. He has quickly assumed the No. 1 receiver role over Andre Johnson on the Houston Texans for the first time in a decade. He is faster and more explosive than Johnson, and Ryan Fitzpatrick seems to look his way early and often. Oh, I forgot to mention the Texans are playing the Tennessee Titans this weekend. Don’t overthink it — start this guy.

With the season Arian Foster is having, it will only make sense to see the Texans try to establish some sort of running game against their divisional foes, and that should happen rather easily. With the box stacked, that should leave some play-action shots down the field that could allow Hopkins to get over 100 yards for the second straight week, as well as get into the end zone for the first time since Week 4.

I’d like him a heck of a lot more if Fitzpatrick wasn’t his quarterback this season, but you should expect both Fitzpatrick and Hopkins to put up solid numbers this Sunday as the Titans’ defense is 21st in the league, allowing almost 250 yards passing per game. Even Colt McCoy torched the Titans’ defense in the second half last week.

Last season, albeit with a different quarterback, Hopkins combined for 11 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown in both meetings against the Titans. Only twice this year has Hopkins failed to reach 60 yards in a game, and I don’t expect that to happen in Week 8. He should be a solid WR2 in both standard and PPR leagues.