DeAndre Hopkins suspended for efficiency enhancing medication

Simply as the long run was starting to look vibrant for the Arizona Cardinals, it has been wanting tough since Week 14. They led not solely the NFC West, however your entire convention for a lot of the season. Then No. 1 broad receiver DeAndre Hopkins went down with a torn MCL in a house loss to a division rival, the Los Angeles Rams. With Hopkins out they might go onto lose three of their final 4 common season video games, and obtained drilled in wild-card playoff loss on the street to the Rams, 34-11.

It is likely to be tough for the Cardinals to get off to the identical blazing begin that they did final season, as a result of as of now, they’ll be with out the most effective broad receivers within the NFL for the primary six video games of the season. ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Hopkins shall be suspended six video games attributable to a violation of the league’s efficiency enhancing drug coverage. No COVID vaccine, however he’s utilizing substances banned by the NFL. Possibly he’s simply terrified of needles.

That’s not thrilling information for the Cardinals for a couple of causes. The primary one, is that their offense is considerably higher with Hopkins within the lineup. With a balanced roster, their protection completed the season ninth in weighted DVOA, Kliff Kingsbury’s bunch seems on paper like a group that’s able to be a contender in a lower than stellar NFC. With out the risk that Hopkins offers as an unguardable pressure at broad receiver, 114 receptions for 1,407 yards in his first season with the Cardinals in 2020, it makes life way more tough for his or her undersized quarterback, Kyler Murray.

Talking of Murray, the Cardinals relationship with him has been a bit rocky for the reason that playoff loss. He reportedly pulled himself out of the sport on the finish and later through the offseason scrubbed his social media accounts of something that needed to do with the Cardinals. The group reportedly felt that he must be a greater chief and take extra accountability.

In current weeks the connection seems to have improved. Murray launched an announcement that he’s dedicated to the Cardinals, though he and another veterans is not going to report back to voluntary group offseason conditioning. The Cardinals additionally look like prepared to offer him what he absolutely desires, a few of that actual quarterback cash. The 2019 No. 1 total decide has confirmed to be a dynamic participant and led the franchise to its first playoff berth since 2015. Cardinals normal supervisor Steve Keim told Adam Schein on Sirius XM’s Mad Canine Radio that with the draft full, they will take the time this summer season to barter with Murray — which is when, he mentioned, offers for gamers like him normally get carried out.

Fortuitously for them, they made a transfer to strengthen their receiving corps with their draft day commerce to accumulate Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, a former teammate of Murray’s at Oklahoma. It’s transfer Murray is actually in favor of, and so they had higher rediscover their connection from the 2018 season shortly, as a result of it’s not like Brown was placing up Hopkins like statistics with the Baltimore Ravens, even throughout Lamar Jackson’s 2020 MVP season.

These two under-6 footers should be part of forces with one other fleet-of-foot member of their membership, Rondale Moore, to try to be fast sufficient to maintain this group aggressive till Hopkins can present the offense with what made individuals choose the competency of the Houston Texans for not retaining him. Hopkins is a participant who’s open on virtually each single down. He doesn’t should be streaking previous somebody or run a wonderfully timed route. Generally he can merely run to a spot, flip round, and use his athleticism and dimension to go and take the soccer out of the air.

Whereas the Cardinals took the best step to try to mitigate this loss, they’re nonetheless going to be with out the most effective gamers within the NFL for extra that third of the 2022 season. One other little bit of unhealthy information in a troublesome offseason, through which they need to’ve been allowed to pat themselves on the again for a second. They did make the playoffs for the primary time since Peyton Manning was nonetheless within the NFL.