DJ Nuk: The Soundtrack of the 2020 Offseason

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We are a couple of weeks removed from the DeAndre Hopkins for David Johnson theft. After taking some time to digest, it is still as egregious a move as we have seen in the football world in some time. Madden 2019 doesn’t accept the offer; if this move was made in your home league, there would have been cries of collusion. Some, myself included, had thought Bill O’Brien’s head coaching position had been in jeopardy after another mediocre 2019 season. If not for Josh Allen folding under pressure in the AFCWC game, he very well might have. However, the McNairs decided to promote Bill to GM at the end of January. His first move? Moving 3-Time All-Pro WR DeAndre Hopkins whilst he enters his age 28 season. 

Immediately, the move was universally ridiculed, with executive Mike Sando stating “The Hopkins thing was a joke. How the David Johnson contract was included in the deal just astounds me.” While talks of a Hopkins extension in ARI have been rumored, at this time he is under contract for three years at around 13 million dollars per year (WR9), VERY reasonable for a talent such as Hopkins. DJ, on the other hand, is owed 18 million dollars for the next two years, and for what he has been able to produce the last few years makes this is a hefty overpay.  But what does this mean for DJ and Nuk in fantasy?

David Johnson

I tried really hard to find any optimism in DJ going to HOU, I really did. There’s just not a lot of rational arguments I found to be made in his favor. Consensus has HOU O-line ranked mediocre at best. PFF has them ranked at 20 and Football Outsiders has them pegged at 21. The eye test might rank them even worse when watching Hyde struggle to find space while Watson is running for his life. They showed improvements after acquiring Tunsil from MIA (not a Bill O’Brien move), but are still a far cry from a formidable unit.

Then there is just Bill O’Brien’s history of lackluster RB production. As an NFL HC or OC, Bill O’Brien has only had a 1,000-yard rusher twice. Arian Foster in 2014 (1,246) and Lamar Miller in 2016 (1,073). His first OC position in the NFL was a one year stint with the NE Patriots in 2011 after McDaniels had gone to DEN. Their leading rusher that year? Benjarvus Green-Ellis with 667 yards. Unless DJ is somehow able to overcome these glaring obstacles and return to his 2016 form, it is hard to be optimistic about his 2020 campaign.

DeAndre Hopkins

There is no shortage of optimism when looking at Hopkins going to ARI however. He finds himself going from one of the games best young dual-threat QB’s in Watson to another in Murray. Murray, who will be entering his second season with HC Kingsbury, is coming off a 3,500+ yard passing and 500+ yard rushing season making him the 6th QB all time and 2nd rookie (Newton) to accomplish this rather arbitrary feat. Hopkins finds himself in a franchise on the rise, in an air-raid offense with other legitimate targets around him. If you simply added Nuk’s 2019 season to Murray’s, Kyler would have finished 4,887 yards and 27 TD’s through the air. This is not a completely unrealistic possibility for 2020. Many like to point out how WR’s tend to struggle in their first year in a new offense. However, I just don’t see why Hopkins can’t produce at the same level or higher in ARI. He has been a top tier talent and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for reading. Find me on twitter @Dushanes_ to discuss your fantasy questions and any feedback you have!

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