Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been impressed by quarterback Tom Savage through the offseason and early training camp.
On the Houston Texans offense there is no more electrifying player than wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Even with mediocre quarterback play the last couple years, Hopkins has managed to be among the best wide receivers in the NFL.
With both Tom Savage and rookie Deshaun Watson battling it out to toss him the ball, Hopkins should end up with a better signal caller than the Brock Osweiler mess from the year before. Early into training camp and he may have already found his preference.
After spending a portion of the offseason working with Savage in his hometown of Philadelphia, Hopkins has seen growth from the young quarterback. He said this,per The Houston Chronicle:
"“We got together in Philadelphia and threw a couple days…That’s big because he’s the quarterback. He keeps the ship running, and I’m the No. 1 wide receiver. Everything goes though us…”"
Hopkins elaborated and said:
"“I think we’re at a good point. You can tell guys have been working in the offseason, doing things they needed to work on, and it showed today.”"
Hopkins has not made a full-throated endorsement of either quarterback, but his connection to Savage may be the critical point that puts him over the top when evaluating how effective the offense can be immediately.
Savage seems to be impressing everyone, though. While the attention remains on Watson, Savage continues to quietly deliver:
FWIW I was very impressed with Tom Savage. His patience. His accuracy. He looked like an NFL starter. Had some beauties to DeAndre Hopkins pic.twitter.com/1d1sPRW6mC
— David Nuño (@DavidNuno) July 28, 2017
It may not be sexy for the Texans to go with an older player who has no distinguishing career marks or anything to hang his hat on yet – especially with a first round pick waiting in the wings – but if Savage can keep impressing he may find himself the starter. This is exactly what training camp is all about and Savage is proving that anyone can elevate himself with hard work before camp and in front of the coaches during it.
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Hopkins has played with plenty of quarterbacks through his career and thinks that both Savage and Watson can be franchise quarterbacks, telling Inside Training Camp from NFL.com:
"You know, through my whole career I think I’ve played with the most quarterbacks through any wide receiver’s career throughout my first four years. So, I’ve never had stability at quarterback to be able to build chemistry in back to back years. So to have two guys like that in the locker room that I know can be franchise quarterbacks, it’s a great feeling."
That was all before training camp officially started. The situation may become more clear as the passes keep coming and the competition heats up.
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For now, though, know that neither player is necessarily jumping ahead in the quarterback competition. Savage looks polished and Watson is putting in the right effort needed to step up. Connection to Hopkins or not, whoever can get the ball to him the best by the start of the 2017 season will get the job.