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DeAndre Hopkins 'Thankful' to Play with Kyler Murray; Cardinals QB 'Has an Arm'
August 3, 2020
DeAndre Hopkins is familiar with playing in an offense featuring a talented quarterback given his time with Deshaun Watson on the Houston Texans, and he already recognizes the talent in new teammate Kyler Murray.
Hopkins said when speaking to reporters (h/t Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk):
"Kyler has an arm. Obviously, I'm thankful to play with a quarterback like that who can make any throw, anywhere on the field and has confidence to do it. I think just from what I've seen, we're going to have a good time playing football together, because obviously he's confident in his arm. The guy is very talented, very smart, high football IQ. What I've seen so far is someone with a very strong arm."
The Arizona Cardinals made Murray the face of the franchise when they selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, and he responded by winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year behind 3,722 yards and 20 touchdowns through the air and 544 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
Arizona then gave him one of the best weapons in all of football when it traded for Hopkins this offseason.
Hopkins is a four-time Pro Bowler who is coming off three consecutive first-team All-Pro selections. His chemistry with Watson after three seasons was apparent in 2019 as he tallied 104 catches for 1,165 yards and seven touchdowns, and he isn't worried about a lack of chemistry on his new offense even with less on-field work during the COVID-19 pandemic:
"I think I will have time to develop chemistry with Kyler. Kyler's going into his second year obviously. He's advanced in this offense. Other guys also. Last year was the first year of a lot of people being in this offense. You can tell just from the first day that—I wasn't here, but just hearing from guys—we're far advanced than where we were at this point last year. He's matured in this offense. I'm new to it, but he's going a good job of keeping me up to par with things and also the other guys around me. But I think we will have time to develop chemistry once we kind of get out there and throw a little bit more against the defense. I think that will help. Obviously, we don't have a lot of time to get ready, so every rep really counts. But Kyler's mindset is we're going to make it work, so that's my mindset as well."
Arizona is scheduled to start its season Sept. 13 against the San Francisco 49ers.