Cardinals trade David Johnson to the Texans for DeAndre Hopkins

DeAndre Hopkins (YouTube)

There was a blockbuster trade in the National Football League on Monday between the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals. In a deal that involved two veteran offensive stars, the Texans traded wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona and the Cardinals traded running back David Johnson to Houston.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN and Chris Chavez of Sports Illustrated,  there were also numerous draft picks involved. The Cardinals are receiving a fourth round draft pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, while the Texans are receiving a second round draft pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and a fourth round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Anyway you put it, this trade was a blockbuster that will even amaze the hard core poolies in fantasy football. In 2019, Hopkins was a Pro Bowler for the third straight year and fourth time in five years. The three-time First Team All-Pro had 104 catches for 1165 yards and seven touchdowns. Despite the productive numbers, Hopkins saw a drop in offensive production as he had a NFL-high 13 touchdown catches in 2017 and a career high 1572 receiving yards in 2018.

Johnson meanwhile has suffered various injuries in recent years. Last year he was limited to a back and ankle ailment after missing 15 games in 2017 with a dislocated wrist that required surgery. In 2019, Johnson only had 94 rushes for 345 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games. He also had 36 catches for 370 yards and four touchdowns.

Where Johnson is prolific on the football field is his versatility. When healthy, he can be a dynamic force in the backfield in getting by the opposing defensive line, and be effective as a key receiving option for Texans quarterback DeShaun Watson. In his career, Johnson has 3128 rushing yards and 2219 receiving yards.

Johnson’s best NFL season was in 2016. That year he had 1239 rushing yards, 879 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns (16 on the ground and four from the air). Johnson was also a first-team All-Pro and selected to the Pro Bowl.

As far as Hopkins is concerned, he will now be the primary receiver for a Cardinals squad whose previous number one receiving option for Kyler Murray was the 36 year old Larry Fitzgerald. With 8602 receiving yards in 110 games, Hopkins has averaged 78.2 yards per game in his fine NFL career.