DeAndre Hopkins says it’s ‘go time!’ and Kyler Murray is excited about it

Everyone in the Valley, rightfully so, is thrilled about the Arizona Cardinals’ reported acquisition of All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins from the Houston Texans.

No one should be more than Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, and he took to Twitter to let everyone know.

ITS 50 OUTSIDE AND WE RIDIN’ W THE TOP DOWN! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY… 🙏🏽🥋

— Kyler Murray (@K1) March 16, 2020

LETS GET RIGHT! @DeAndreHopkins

— Kyler Murray (@K1) March 16, 2020

He also went on Instagram, where Hopkins introduced himself with two words.

DeAndre Hopkins comments “go time!” On the post. pic.twitter.com/uwMin7sD94

— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) March 16, 2020

Hopkins is coming from Houston where he has already played with an extremely talented quarterback in Deshaun Watson, but Murray has never come close to throwing the ball in the NFL to someone like Hopkins.

And with the NFL season now a few months removed, it’s easy to forget the struggles Murray had with his pass-catchers as a rookie.

Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk still managed productive seasons. Fitzgerald caught 75 balls for 804 yards and four touchdowns while Kirk had 68 catches of his own for 709 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games.

Hopkins gives Murray arguably the best receiver in the NFL, or to be safer, undoubtedly one of the top five. The 27-year-old had 104 receptions for 1,165 yards and seven touchdowns in 2019, and that was considered a relatively disappointing season for him considering the 2018 he had of 115 catches, 1,572 yards and 11 touchdowns.

More importantly, that pushes Fitzgerald and Kirk down a couple of pegs into more natural spots as Murray’s second and third targets. That also puts less pressure on the likes of second-year wideouts Andy Isabella and Hakeem Butler, and actually more at the same time now that they will have to certainly earn their share of targets.

The discussion around the Cardinals’ receiving corps this past season and ahead was that both Fitzgerald and Kirk were not natural No. 1 options, and specifically, Kirk was someone the Cardinals could get much more out of if he was offset by a top name.

That is now a reality, and Hopkins can also help unlock Murray’s creativity more in year two.

Murray was prone to taking sacks due to his receivers’ inability to get open, especially when he used his legs to scramble and make more time. Fitzgerald is notoriously good at this despite being long gone from his prime but Hopkins is arguably the best “just throw it up to him” receiver in the NFL.

All season long, it was mostly Murray with a little bit of Fitzgerald and Kenyan Drake sprinkled in as playmakers that would extend a drive or finish one with some individual greatness. In 2020, the Cardinals are going to get a whole lot of that and more from Hopkins.

Follow @KellanOlson