Why Brycen Hopkins can’t be overlooked

[Memento]

To turn things around? He hasn't even gotten playing time to even prove himself. Not sure why you're such a bump on the log at times.

Hopkins had every opportunity to earn playing time. Higbee played with a bum arm basically the entire season. Mundt was a backup. Everett was...Everett. Blanton was on the practice squad. He had every opportunity to impress McVay because our tight ends sucked last year. He only got in five games, including the postseason. He had a grand total of two - yes, you heard me right; two - offensive snaps with zero targets the entire year. Other than that, it was healthy scratch after healthy scratch.

Add in his lackluster college profile with blocking (you'd think that the son of a Pro-Bowl offensive lineman would know how to block, but no, he's been allergic to blocking his entire career, softer than a baby sea otter's ass) and dropping the ball (yes, I realize that they could be concentration drops, but that's still a concern.) and you can see why I am more than hesitant to trust him than most.

 

[Riverumbbq]

As previously mentioned, (numerous times in fact) they can easily work that cap number down. Convert to signing bonus, add voided 2nd year. Cuts hit in half. Has a great year, Hopkins has another year to grow and then they get a comp pick when he hits FA. Easy peasy.
As it stands, a 6 mill cap hit right now wouldnt prevent the team from bringing on a player. Draft is a month and a half away, rookies wont sign for several weeks after that. Plenty of time to work the cap

So you are OK with giving up a draft pick, perhaps a couple, and adding dead money to the 2022 season for a player who may choose to move on following the 2021 season as a free agent ? Not a risk i'm willing to take.

 

[dieterbrock]

Hopkins had every opportunity to earn playing time.

Absolutely.
He was drafted because the Rams wanted playmakers, they saw him as a playmaker and guy they could work in. During the season, and after, what did McVay say was missing? Big plays... They didnt draft him to play special teams, and for sure his pass blocking skills werent great, but that didnt stop them from drafting Gerald Everett...
I get the excuses for low production, but he didnt even have that. He had literally no production. McVay doesnt draft offensive players, really any players for that matter, to sit on the bench. All his offense rookies play

 

[dieterbrock]

So you are OK with giving up a draft pick, perhaps a couple, and adding dead money to the 2022 season for a player who may choose to move on following the 2021 season as a free agent ? Not a risk i'm willing to take.

Pete and Repeat are running a race, Pete falls down, who wins the race?

 

[LA_Rams_#29]

Hopkins had every opportunity to earn playing time. Higbee played with a bum arm basically the entire season. Mundt was a backup. Everett was...Everett. Blanton was on the practice squad. He had every opportunity to impress McVay because our tight ends sucked last year. He only got in five games, including the postseason. He had a grand total of two - yes, you heard me right; two - offensive snaps with zero targets the entire year. Other than that, it was healthy scratch after healthy scratch.

Add in his lackluster college profile with blocking (you'd think that the son of a Pro-Bowl offensive lineman would know how to block, but no, he's been allergic to blocking his entire career, softer than a baby sea otter's ass) and dropping the ball (yes, I realize that they could be concentration drops, but that's still a concern.) and you can see why I am more than hesitant to trust him than most.

every opportunity except OTAs and preseason games

 

[Picked4td]

Absolutely.
He was drafted because the Rams wanted playmakers, they saw him as a playmaker and guy they could work in. During the season, and after, what did McVay say was missing? Big plays... They didnt draft him to play special teams, and for sure his pass blocking skills werent great, but that didnt stop them from drafting Gerald Everett...
I get the excuses for low production, but he didnt even have that. He had literally no production. McVay doesnt draft offensive players, really any players for that matter, to sit on the bench. All his offense rookies play

TEs are typically considered to have the hardest transition and learning curve in the NFL. Its not like Higbee putting up the numbers close to the ones he does now in his rookie year. Hopkins may or may not work out, but i dont think him having no production in year 1 will be why, especially when there were 2 better, more experienced TEs ahead of him.

 

[Ram_Rally]

Everett came out of South Alabama. Kupp was the one that came from Eastern Washington.

Oh right lol thanks

 

[dieterbrock]

TEs are typically considered to have the hardest transition and learning curve in the NFL. Its not like Higbee putting up the numbers close to the ones he does now in his rookie year. Hopkins may or may not work out, but i dont think him having no production in year 1 will be why, especially when there were 2 better, more experienced TEs ahead of him.

Well, I'm kind of tired of repeating myself in this thread, but wanted to at least dispel this common misnomer. TE acclimate just as well as others, if one goes thru the last 5 years of drafts, looking at TE's drafted from 1st to 5th round, you wont see many who had 0 catches as a rookie. Plenty of rookie TE played well, success rate at least equal to WR.

 

[EasyE]

really disappointed Everett did not work out....he had beast athletic skill, power....

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

the rams knew this when they drafted him. so the question is why did they draft him in the 4th round? doesn't that make you think they had a plan for him?

.

He wouldn’t be the firstfourth round pick not to workout as planned.

You just described Gerald Everett.

And he just became a multi-millionaire.

But not on the Rams.

 

[ottoman89]

Well, I'm kind of tired of repeating myself in this thread, but wanted to at least dispel this common misnomer. TE acclimate just as well as others, if one goes thru the last 5 years of drafts, looking at TE's drafted from 1st to 5th round, you wont see many who had 0 catches as a rookie. Plenty of rookie TE played well, success rate at least equal to WR.

Do they have Higbee and Everett above them? I'm not really trying disagreeing with you. But Higbee and GE have been solid pieces of our offense at times the last few years. If Hopkins doesn't do a damn thing this season then I'll really worry.

 

[Debacled]

really disappointed Everett did not work out....he had beast athletic skill, power....

He did work out. He got another contract for 6m (albeit one year, I'd chalk that up to the covid cap restrictions). All of us would have liked to see less drops and more TDs, but all that would have led to would of been a bigger contract that the team wasn't going to pony up for. They have a better all around option in Higbee, and they have guys they like to keep around for their blocking.

Expectations with TEs are odd. Everyone expects another Travis Kelce or George Kittle....those players are very few and far between.

Its a tough position to play in the NFL. They're expected to block as well as an OL, and at the same time put up numbers similar to WRs. Its just not realistic outside of a very very small amount of exceptional players. On top of that more often than not those exceptional players are still very one dimensional (offensive production is must more heavily valued).

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

this is what snead said after the draft.

“We really like our tight end room right now, but we had him highly rated and felt like he could come in and carve out a role early but also later,” Snead said. “We didn’t have to make that pick, but sometimes when you make those types of picks, there’s an element of drafting in a microscope, but also with a telescope and you feel like, ‘Hey, the guy can make plays.’

make of it what you will.

.

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

early or later.

microscope or telescope.

man snead likes talking shit. make up your mind man.

says a lot but says nothing.

.

 

[RamsSince1969]

Everett had one hell of a 4th quarter on that legendary November night. That included the ridiculous winning touchdown catch and sideline romp with 1:49 to go in the 4th to put them ahead 54-51. That's how I'll try and remember him, for that shining moment.
2018 was awesome and included my favorite radio call ever;

"Greg Zuerlein sends the Rams to the Superbowl" Let's go Hopkins! Bring back the fire!

 

[dieterbrock]

Do they have Higbee and Everett above them? I'm not really trying disagreeing with you. But Higbee and GE have been solid pieces of our offense at times the last few years. If Hopkins doesn't do a damn thing this season then I'll really worry.

He couldnt get playing time over Johnny Mundt as the #3 either.....
When the HC cut his teeth as a TE coach who ran a 3 TE set? And drafted the guy saying they were planning on designing exotic packages for him? Higbee was dinged up all season.
Everett was in last year of his contract, if they planned on him coming back, then why draft a TE with a premium pick? If Everett came back in 2021 it would be reasonable for Hopkins to sit out another season? Or worse, when they realized Everett likely wasnt coming back, you dont get his replacement playing time to get acclimated to the game? Neither option makes sense. This isnt some raw talent that needed to be brought along slowly, and what they saw in him that made him worth drafting was what was missing from the team during the year.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Do they have Higbee and Everett above them? I'm not really trying disagreeing with you. But Higbee and GE have been solid pieces of our offense at times the last few years. If Hopkins doesn't do a damn thing this season then I'll really worry.

I think some people expected that he’d push Everett for some playing time. Everett wasn’t great so it stands to reason that a fourth round rookie would at least be active and get a few looks on offense in a few games to see how he does. So it’s not far fetched reasoning. I don’t think he was picked to play Mundts role.

Bryce not getting any playing time could have been due to his lack of blocking skills in the pass game, or maybe they thought he needed some strength work to toughen him up. It could be that they didn’t like what they saw in camp, and decided he’s not ready. Maybe Everett is just better.

Then you get ppl like @Memento and myself who didn’t like the pick to start with. I watched Hopkins play in college. I thought 4th round was way to high for him. So I never had great expectations.

Some people think that Bryce having a Dad that was a great NFL Olineman is a good sign that he will become a good blocker. I’d guess that his dad tried showing him how to block at some point in his life. He should be pretty good at it by now. My son plays football and I go over DLine moves with him every week. We watch the Rams DLine and Donald’s moves. We even practice them in the yard. I never played a down of football nor coached.

Some guys just never like to block or never want to tackle. It’s not like they’ve never been taught how. I hope that isn’t Hopkins. I’d say maybe he could be a big receiver in the slot but McVays offense requires receivers to block.

Hopefully he looks like a fourth round steal this year during the season.

 

[dieterbrock]

.

early or later.

microscope or telescope.

man snead likes talking shit. make up your mind man.

says a lot but says nothing.

.

What about Brycen Hopkins piqued the Rams' interest?

The Rams really liked Hopkins’ receiving ability and upside.

theramswire.usatoday.com

Good article here, kind of summing up what they liked/expected from Hop
Couple of snips, not the stuff you hear about a guy who the expect to "redshirt":
“What really caught my eye on Brycen while I was watching tape was his ability to separate running tight end routes,” said Ted Monago, assistant director of college scouting. “He was an athletic guy who had some natural savvy and ability, which Coach McVay told us to find players who could double-up and create separation. I always thought Brycen could do that — it was very natural for him.”

"Snead said after the draft that the Rams want to get Hopkins involved as a rookie in “exotic personnel packages” on offense, which could be taken as three-tight end sets with Everett and Higbee also on the field.

Snead and McVay have said this offseason that they want to get the tight ends involved more often next season, and Hopkins figures to be included in that."

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

What about Brycen Hopkins piqued the Rams' interest?

The Rams really liked Hopkins’ receiving ability and upside.

theramswire.usatoday.com

Good article here, kind of summing up what they liked/expected from Hop
Couple of snips, not the stuff you hear about a guy who the expect to "redshirt":
“What really caught my eye on Brycen while I was watching tape was his ability to separate running tight end routes,” said Ted Monago, assistant director of college scouting. “He was an athletic guy who had some natural savvy and ability, which Coach McVay told us to find players who could double-up and create separation. I always thought Brycen could do that — it was very natural for him.”

"Snead said after the draft that the Rams want to get Hopkins involved as a rookie in “exotic personnel packages” on offense, which could be taken as three-tight end sets with Everett and Higbee also on the field.

Snead and McVay have said this offseason that they want to get the tight ends involved more often next season, and Hopkins figures to be included in that."

Maybe it was just the offensive struggles and McVay feeling like he couldn’t open up the offense that kept Hopkins off the field.

 

[ottoman89]

What about Brycen Hopkins piqued the Rams' interest?

The Rams really liked Hopkins’ receiving ability and upside.

theramswire.usatoday.com

Good article here, kind of summing up what they liked/expected from Hop
Couple of snips, not the stuff you hear about a guy who the expect to "redshirt":
“What really caught my eye on Brycen while I was watching tape was his ability to separate running tight end routes,” said Ted Monago, assistant director of college scouting. “He was an athletic guy who had some natural savvy and ability, which Coach McVay told us to find players who could double-up and create separation. I always thought Brycen could do that — it was very natural for him.”

"Snead said after the draft that the Rams want to get Hopkins involved as a rookie in “exotic personnel packages” on offense, which could be taken as three-tight end sets with Everett and Higbee also on the field.

Snead and McVay have said this offseason that they want to get the tight ends involved more often next season, and Hopkins figures to be included in that."

Maybe it was just the offensive struggles and McVay feeling like he couldn’t open up the offense that kept Hopkins off the field.

Excellent takes from both of you. And I can't disagree with any of the things you said in response to my previous post.

I never expected Hopkins to be a blocker, always envisioned him in that Jordan Reed role. Maybe they got him into practice and thought "Damn, we really screwed up!" Or maybe he just wasn't grasping the offense and had to really develop as a blocker.

As you said, some people just don't like to block or tackle and that's probably what holes back some players.

And then you have dudes like my guy George Kittle who absolutely pancake a dude 5-10 yards downfield from where they engaged and he (Kittle) start laughing about it.. some dudes just have the "will" to dominate and be physical.

And of course with Higbee, I'm a big fan of his and after the '19 season ended I had huge hopes, but injury and for whatever reasons he didn't continue that momentum into last season.