The Kansas City Chiefs were tired of watching talented pass catchers leaving the roster. After suffering numerous injuries at the position, including season-ending injuries to the top two targets on the roster, the Chiefs decided to reverse that flow this week with the import of veteran wideout DeAndre Hopkins.
The Chiefs finally worked out a deal to bring in some receiving help this week via a trade before the NFL's deadline of November 5. The deal with the Tennessee Titans cost the Chiefs a fifth-round choice in the 2025 NFL Draft that could become a fourth-round choice if certain parameters are met.
Given that one of those is for Hopkins to play in the Super Bowl, we're pretty sure the Chiefs don't care too much if the higher choice kicks in.
Matt Nagy spoke to reporters about the addition of the veteran receiver to the Chiefs roster.
As Hopkins arrived in Arrowhead this week to prepare to take on the Las Vegas Raiders, the team made several assistant coaches available to chat with the media on Thursday. Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy answered plenty of questions about the new addition and what it means.
"It's exciting I think for everybody. You get a guy that's super experienced. He's been in this league a long time. He's had a lot of success, and so you look at both situations, and I feel like it's really a win-win type deal," said Nagy.
Nagy made it clear that, like any new player, there are immediate hurdles to learning a new system. Despite Hopkins' experience and skill set, he's going to need time to live up to expectations and grow into his role.
"He came in this morning ready to rock and roll. And everything is the first time now for him. So he's getting in here the first time, trying to figure out where to sit in the meetings. First time to go in walk-throughs and figure out how we do walk-throughs. First time to go out and figure out what practice tempo is like. There's a lot of firsts. So as sometimes it can get to thinking it's just like plug and play, you know, there is a process to it. We want to make sure we do that the right way and Coach Reid has been great with that."
Overall, however, Nagy said the team is thrilled to add Hopkins to the list of pass catchers available for quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
"The biggest thing right now is his hands are phenomenal. He has really, really good hands. I think he's got some of the least amount of drops in the history of the NFL, but the experience that he has, which comes, I think, with that is trust. So he's played in a lot of games. He understands and he's seen a bunch of different defenses.
"That's valuable. Whether it's zone or man, he's a very good route runner. He understands leverages. And one of the things, just getting the kind of... you see it on tape. You see it in interviews. But then when he's here up close and live and in person, you see the confidence and the swagger that he has. And I think that confidence can really penetrate and you feel that with the other players. You've got to go out and do it, so it's just that we're at the beginning stages."
Hopkins is a three-time All-Pro who had 1,057 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns last season for Tennessee.