For the third week in a row, Tennessee Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins has fantasy football managers sweating about his injury status going into game day.
Is Hopkins likely to play today? And if so, what effect will the injury have on him? Let’s look into the latest injury news on Hopkins, whether or not he is likely to play in Week 3, and what his fantasy outlook will be if he does play.
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Is DeAndre Hopkins Going To Play Week 3?
Hopkins has fantasy managers worried this week. He was a full participant at practice on Wednesday. He then logged a limited practice on Thursday, before not practicing at all on Friday.
Hopkins has a long-standing ankle injury. He didn’t practice at all in the first two weeks of the season. Therefore, when he practiced on Wednesday, fantasy managers were hoping his ankle injury was well and truly behind him.
Does this mean he is not going to play today? Well, not necessarily according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. Fowler reported this morning that Hopkins “is expected to play Sunday vs. #Browns, per source.”
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As I said last week, Hopkins and the Titans are purely managing this injury. He isn’t needed at practice as much as those with less league experience. Therefore, the Titans are clearly saving Hopkins for games until the injury fully recovers.
What Does This Mean for Hopkins’ Fantasy Outlook?
As we expect Hopkins to play today, let’s dive into his fantasy outlook for Week 3. Hopkins is currently the WR45 in PPR scoring, mostly due to a disastrous Week 2 where he only scored 8.0 PPR points.
However, our PFN Consensus Rankings currently have Hopkins ranked as the WR30. Today they play the Cleveland Browns, which will be a tough matchup for Hopkins and the Titans.
Hopkins’ usage dropped in Week 2, in terms of percentage of routes run, dropping from 92% in Week 1 to just 72% in Week 2. He also saw his targets drop from 13 in Week 1 to just five in Week 2. However, the Titans did throw the ball 10 times less in Week 2, as they only threw the ball 24 times, despite trailing for large portions of the win vs. the Los Angeles Chargers.
Hopkins’ average depth of target (aDOT) also dropped from 10.0 in Week 1 to 8.8 in Week 2. It appears that the injury, which did not hamper his performance in Week 1, could have contributed to a downturn in usage in Week 2. However, it could also be that the Titans saw the running game as the key to victory, with Derrick Henry having more rushing attempts (25) than Ryan Tannehill had passing attempts (24).
Hopkins also will be facing a cornerback duo of Denzel Ward and Martin Emerson this week for the Browns, who have been solid at shutting down the big plays. The Browns have only given up nine passing first downs in the first two weeks of the season, and they are only conceding 4.9 passing yards per attempt to opposing quarterbacks so far in 2023.
This tough matchup, along with Hopkins’ ongoing ankle injury, means he is someone fantasy managers will need to be careful with this week. If fantasy managers have other options on their bench, like Puka Nacua, Tutu Atwell, Jakobi Meyers, Jordan Addison, or even Elijah Moore, they should consider sitting Hopkins for this one. If not, they you can fire Hopkins up as a Flex play and hope for the best.