Ever since DeAndre Hopkins was released from the Cardinals rumors of him possibly coming to Cleveland have been flying. The Cleveland Browns have a full receiver room. It is no question who has had a better career, but on the other hand, Donovan Peoples-Jones has been stellar for Cleveland. It would be an extremely tough pick for the Browns. Looking at these two players, they are a lot more alike than people may think. They both have great size and strength, alongside amazing hands. As said by Sportsillustrated.com.
Who Should They Pick?
Looking at DPJ’s numbers from last year, he had a slower season due to not having a starting QB behind center. Then Watson came back and was rusty, to say the least. Cleveland wants to be more explosive this season. 14.5% of DPJ’s targets lead to big yardage. Hopkins has had 15 explosive plays in his last 19 games, but that took 160 targets. That means only 9.3% of his plays were explosive.
Explosiveness is huge in today’s NFL. In 2022 31 of the Browns’ 39 offensive TDs had an explosive play during their drive. That is a rate of 79.4% of offensive touchdowns coming from explosive plays. More explosive plays lead to more points in modern NFL Football. With Hopkins being 31 years old he is getting close to the end of his career. His fall and DPJ’s rise would cross each other. Whether that is this year or two years from now it will happen. The Cleveland Browns need to make a choice now. Are they going to try and make Hopkins work and lose a potential
superstar in DPJ? Or are they going to keep letting Peoples-Jones develop into a player that can lead an offense to greatness? DPJ has also found another spot on the Cleveland Browns as their punt returner. Last season he did in fact return a punt for a touchdown. Peoples-Jones returned 18 punts last season for an average of 12.39 yards. The league average is 10.
DPJ Is A Safer Option
As good of a player as DeAndre Hopkins is, is it really worth letting Donovan Peoples-Jones go? If Watson can get back to his former self, Hopkins would put up better numbers than he did in Arizona, but DPJ would also put up better numbers. The difference is that Peoples-Jones is 24 and Hopkins is 31. This a tough choice for the Cleveland Browns, but Donovan Peoples-Jones might just be the better option at this point.
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