Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan compared Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins—whom his defense will attempt to stop in Week 13—with New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
“This guy is kinda like Odell Beckham with the hands,” Rex Ryan said, via the team’s official site. “He can make every catch; one handed, two handed. He’s super-competitive going after the football. He’s a big guy. He blocks. Really a compete receiver. One of the best receivers in the game.”
Through 12 weeks, Hopkins ranks second in the NFL in receiving touchdowns (nine), third in receiving yards (1,081) and fourth in receptions (81) and receiving yards per game (98.3). He’s on pace to catch 118 passes for 1,572 yards and 13 touchdowns. Only six receivers in NFL history have produced a season with at least 115 catches, 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns, with the last being Antonio Brown last season.
Beckham is having another standout season for the Giants, catching 72 passes for 1,005 and nine touchdowns. He hit the highlight reel again last week, hauling in a ridiculous one-handed touchdown against the Washington Redskins.
Hopkins has at least three one-handed catches in 2015, including one snag against the coverage of Darrelle Revis and another during Houston’s upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
“He has the ability to make that one-handed catch,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien told the Houston Chronicle back in November. “I really only coached one other guy that was able to do that like that and that’s Randy Moss. Hop is – when he makes those types of catches every time I see them, and he does them all the time at practice, it’s always something that definitely opens your eyes because to have the ability to do that. He has very, very strong hands, so he has the ability to make one-handed catches like that because of the size of his hands and the strength of his hands. It’s a big attribute of his.”
Ryan can lean on his success in covering Beckham against Hopkins. Back in early October, Beckham caught just five passes on 12 targets for 38 yards against the Bills. He was shadowed by emerging cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who will likely see plenty of Hopkins on Sunday.