Hopkins

[Elmgrovegnome]

He was the biggest surprise.
I don't know what he's not doing enough of that keeps him off the field.. but that running routes and catching the ball thing looked good.

Blocking

 

[RocknRam29]

View: https://twitter.com/Shopgirl1776/status/1493070740475682816?t=RHDC9MP6Nf3FX6wrYo2yiQ&s=19

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

happy for the guy. much maligned but when the rams needed him the most he played out of his skin as a receiver for them in the freaking superbowl.

.

 

[den-the-coach]

Blocking

And yet he had a key block on Kupp 4 & 1 play, which was amazing. I will give Brycen Hopkins, this, he seems to have dependable hands. Rams will have a new TE Coach with Wes Phillips leaving for the Vikings to be their OC so maybe the new TE Coach can get Hopkins to block enough because I like his hands much better then Ben Skowronek's.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

And yet he had a key block on Kupp 4 & 1 play, which was amazing. I will give Brycen Hopkins, this, he seem to have dependable hands. Rams will have a new TE Coach with Wes Phillips leaving for the Vikings to be their OC so maybe the new TE Coach can get Hopkins to block enough because I like his hands much better then Ben Skowronek's.

One good block and suddenly he’s a darling. You love the coaches don’t know what they’re doing angle. Brycen Hopkins was fourth on the depth chart, for a reason. He doesn’t consistently block. He doesn’t even block as well as Mundt or Blanton.

 

[den-the-coach]

One good block and suddenly he’s a darling. You love the coaches don’t know what they’re doing angle. Brycen Hopkins was fourth on the depth chart, for a reason. He doesn’t consistently block. He doesn’t even block as well as Mundt or Blanton.

I know he doesn't, but he showed some great hands last night and stepped up. It was nice to see even if he never plays another down for the Rams. I feel good if the Rams bring back Mundt & understand that if Hopkins can't block then he'll be shown the door.

My hope with a new TE Coach, maybe he connects with him and gets him to put in the time everyone reacts differently to different styles of coaching, but if the Rams bring back Mundt, it will be a tough hill to climb, however, I had Brian Allen out the door in the spring and look what happen with his hard work and getting stronger.

Right now just interested to see who the new TE Coach will be and how this works out, but as @Memento communicated, maybe Hopkins sees now he belongs and works his tail off to get better at the line of scrimmage.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I know he doesn't, but he showed some great hands last night and stepped up. It was nice to see even if he never plays another down for the Rams. I feel good if the Rams bring back Mundt & understand that if Hopkins can't block then he'll be shown the door.

My hope with a new TE Coach, maybe he connects with him and gets him to put in the time everyone reacts differently to different styles of coaching, but if the Rams bring back Mundt, it will be a tough hill to climb, however, I had Brian Allen out the door in the spring and look what happen with his hard work and getting stronger.

Right now just interested to see who the new TE Coach will be and how this works out, but as @Memento communicated, maybe Hopkins sees now he belongs and works his tail off to get better at the line of scrimmage.

Nelson Spruce baby!!

I only bring that up because I always keep Spruce in mind when people get excited about UDFAs or 7th round picks. I’d rather not get my hopes up for the fourth TE who can’t jump ahead of the UDFAs in front of him.

btw Stafford needs to get on the same page with his other receivers. His timing was off with Skowronek and especially Jefferson. It’s not like Kupp has blazing speed and Matt can only throw to fast guys. I’m already ready to see how much they improve next season.

 

[nighttrain]

What Hopkins did was to earn himself a long look next training camp, a very long look
train

 

[I like Rams]

Nelson Spruce baby!!

I only bring that up because I always keep Spruce in mind when people get excited about UDFAs or 7th round picks. I’d rather not get my hopes up for the fourth TE who can’t jump ahead of the UDFAs in front of him.

btw Stafford needs to get on the same page with his other receivers. His timing was off with Skowronek and especially Jefferson. It’s not like Kupp has blazing speed and Matt can only throw to fast guys. I’m already ready to see how much they improve next season.

Spruce was a training camp champion. Hopkins came up big in the Super bowl. Can't really compare them.

I agree 100% with the Stafford comment though. Kupp has the best hands on the team so he's gonna be ok with pretty much any qb, but my main thing with Stafford is the balls behind the receiver. If that ball to obj is thrown in front of him, he does not have to make that sudden stop to catch behind him and his knee is not put in a dangerous situation. But I digress...I'm not gonna nit pick after we just won the super bowl!

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Spruce was a training camp champion. Hopkins came up big in the Super bowl. Can't really compare them.

I agree 100% with the Stafford comment though. Kupp has the best hands on the team so he's gonna be ok with pretty much any qb, but my main thing with Stafford is the balls behind the receiver. If that ball to obj is thrown in front of him, he does not have to make that sudden stop to catch behind him and his knee is not put in a dangerous situation. But I digress...I'm not gonna nit pick after we just won the super bowl!

LOL yes I can. So many of us were excited about Spruce in training camp. Hopkins didn’t do shit in training camp. He’s a fourth string TE behind two UDFAs. Not much difference imo. He may never catch another pass in the NFL.

 

[den-the-coach]

btw Stafford needs to get on the same page with his other receivers. His timing was off with Skowronek and especially Jefferson. It’s not like Kupp has blazing speed and Matt can only throw to fast guys. I’m already ready to see how much they improve next season.

Not so sure how much that is on Stafford and not on Skowronek or Jefferson. Jefferson needs to get in the weight room and get stronger, plus be more active and contest throws as it appears unless he's wide open, he cannot catch with somebody in his hip pocket.

I love Big Ben, but he needs to get with Kupp and improve his hand placement and catch the ball with the hands and not his body. Work ons in the offseason as I do believe they in them, but they need to get better too.

 

[I like Rams]

LOL yes I can. So many of us were excited about Spruce in training camp. Hopkins didn’t do shit in training camp. He’s a fourth string TE behind two UDFAs. Not much difference imo. He may never catch another pass in the NFL.

Right...but they are complete opposites like you just described, regardless if Hopkins has the same outcome as Spruce. Hopkins helped win a SB, Spruce was a training camp warrior. Which would you rather be?

 

[BonifayRam]

The stepping up of Brycen Hopkins in the receiving game was one very big positive.

The poor showing & ZERO step up from the 26 yr old Van Jefferson & Ben Skowronek nearly cost the Rams the game. No excuse for the 2nd round 2020 draft selection Jefferson .

Is there cause for alarm @ WR due to the pending OBJ departure & the horrendous 2021 2nd rd selection TuTu Atwell.

Seems like the only real hope will be coming from the WR Jacob Harris rehab outcome. I sure would look strongly at keeping the often injured OBJ!

View: https://twitter.com/mortreport/status/1492889379731226626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1492889379731226626%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportsgrid.com%2Freal-sports%2Fnfl%2Flos-angeles-rams-certain-odell-beckham-jr-returns-next-season%2F

 

[den-the-coach]

No excuse for the 2nd round 2020 draft selection Jefferson .

I agree here, but he's young and needs to work on getting stronger in the weight room and IMO, when you feel stronger, it can take you to new heights mentally too as we watched with Brian Allen. Jefferson disappeared and even looked scared at times, Skowronek's route running and hand placement need to improve. Again something tht can happen in the offseason as both work on improving their craft.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Right...but they are complete opposites like you just described, regardless if Hopkins has the same outcome as Spruce. Hopkins helped win a SB, Spruce was a training camp warrior. Which would you rather be?

Not my point. I got very excited about Spruce. Lots of us did. Now a few are getting really excited about Hopkins future. I’ll temper my expectations.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

The stepping up of Brycen Hopkins in the receiving game was one very big positive. The poor showing & none step up from Van Jefferson & Ben Skowronek nearly cost the Rams the game. No excuse for the 2nd round 2020 draft selection Jefferson .

Agreed. VJ has not been as good as hoped. It’s his second year and he’s still not catching with his hands consistently.

 

[thirteen28]

Well one of the reasons we couldn't run the ball was the TE position tonight. So not gonna knock them, I mean they're depth guys. But let's not start thinking we're flush at TE.

Oh, not thinking that by any means. But credit where it's due, he stepped up at the most critical time and deserves another look next year. I haven't forgot that he's rarely dressed for a game in 2 seasons and think there is a reason, but you also never know when the light is going to go on for a guy. Maybe his switched flipped on last night.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Not sure how well he did blocking all game. But on the most crucial play, 4th 1 Kupp sweep, he made a fantastic block to clear out the guy and allow Kupp to turn in for the 1st down. I couldn’t believe that was Hopkins. Crazy McVay but it worked.

I rewatched that several times. Kupp was going outside on that play all the way and only turned it upfield because Hopkins didn’t finish his block. Hubbard made the move to stop Kupp from going outside.

 

[I like Rams]

Not my point. I got very excited about Spruce. Lots of us did. Now a few are getting really excited about Hopkins future. I’ll temper my expectations.

I was one of those who were excited about Spruce as well. I haven't seen anyone get real excited about Hopkins future, but I haven't read every post either, so I won't argue there. I personally feel this may be a confidence booster in Hopkins, if not at least a boost in confidence for McVay to maybe use him in certain packages. But I don't expect him to be the next big TE on this team.

 

[BonifayRam]

I agree here, but he's young and needs to work on getting stronger in the weight room and IMO, when you feel stronger, it can take you to new heights mentally too as we watched with Brian Allen. Jefferson disappeared and even looked scared at times, Skowronek's route running and hand placement need to improve. Again something tht can happen in the offseason as both work on improving their craft.

Not so sure den.....what I saw last night was a fragile nonexplosive JAG of a wideout!

Left me with a sinking feeling. I did not see much there to work with.

If OBJ has torn that ACL completely once again & there's permanent damage .......a one-legged OBJ would still be more help on the field than Jefferson.