Instant Fantasy Football Reaction: DeAndre Hopkins appears to be thriving after joining the Chiefs

The veteran wide receiver carousel continued to spin on Tuesday as the Kansas City Chiefs agreed to send a conditional fifth-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. The move was the team's latest attempt to make up for the loss of Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown this season. Their need became even more urgent when freshman JuJu Smith-Schuster suffered a hamstring injury. He has already been ruled out for Week 8.

The question now is what Hopkins has left. He's been a part-time player so far this year, playing more than half the offensive snaps just twice in six games. But these two weeks have been the final two weeks, which should give us hope that the knee injury Hopkins started the season with is no longer as bad as it was at the start of the year.

Hopkins ranks fifth on the Titans with 107 routes run, but his target rate per route run of 19.6% is nearly the same as Calvin Ridley's, and his 1.62 yards per route run leads all Titans receivers. None of these numbers come close to resembling a prime Hopkins, but the Chiefs don't need a prime Hopkins to support their passing game. Remember, JuJu Smith-Schuster averaged less than 25 yards per game in New England, but the first time he had a snap share above 60% with the Chiefs, he scored 20 PPR fantasy points. Also keep in mind that Hopkins accounted for 34% of the Titans' receiving yards and 50% of their receiving touchdowns in 2023. These are elite conditions.

Even at 32 years old, Hopkins should be the best wide receiver in the receiving room. If he plays Week 8, consider him a borderline number three wide receiver who will likely need to score a touchdown to be worth starting. He has the potential to become a must-have option as the number three receiver in this offense. Therefore, the most important course of action is to ensure that Hopkins plays in your league, even if there are only 10 teams. The Chiefs have had major issues in the red zone, and that's where Hopkins could really help Patrick Mahomes and this offense. Don't be surprised if he leads them in touchdowns the rest of the season.

Speaking of Mahomes, that gives you some hope just from holding him and starting him. It also gives you a reason to add him if your league is one of the few leagues where he has been dropped. He's still the best quarterback in football and it's unlikely he'll continue to struggle in the fantasy department like he has.

I wouldn't expect this addition to impact Travis Kelce much; He's still a mid-range TE1. Xavier Worthy remains a boom/bust WR3, although I think he has a better chance of making those big plays if the defense has someone else to watch out for. I would like to keep JuJu Smith-Schuster, but I understand if you can't.

This doesn't have much of an impact on the Titans' side as Hopkins didn't do much. Maybe we'll see a bit of a target increase for Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd. I only use Boyd in deeper leagues; Ridley should be used in most 12-team leagues.

With Hopkins no longer on the market, we see two more experienced wide receivers in Cooper Kupp and Diontae Johnson who could be traded. You now have one less positive landing spot available.