Congratulations, Houston Texans. You are not the worst team in the AFC South.
Houston proved as much Sunday with its 31-20 victory over the 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars and pleased plenty of fantasy owners relying on the quarterback-receiver combo of Brian Hoyer and DeAndre Hopkins in the process. Hoyer did not throw a pick and guided his team to the win with the help of his favorite target and Cecil Shorts III.
Sure, it came against a 1-5 team that hasn’t finished with a winning record since 2007 and is consistently one of the worst in the league, but at least Hopkins has been consistently performing all season. Here is a look at the final tallies and some reaction to the Texans playmakers.
Brian Hoyer
Hoyer made it clear Sunday with three touchdown passes that he deserves to be the starting quarterback on this team. Most impressively, all three scoring throws occurred on third down and made the difference between a victory and defeat.
However, there is a word of caution when it comes to trusting Hoyer for fantasy purposes.
Last season was the first time in his career he threw more than 96 pass attempts in a single year, and he finished with 12 touchdowns and 13 picks. What’s more, the Jaguars were 21st in the league against the pass entering Sunday’s contest and 31st in points allowed per game.
While Hoyer is far from must-start status with those precautions, he is at least worthy of consideration as a bye-week or injury replacement if your normal quarterback is out of the lineup.
This was his third straight impressive showing (837 passing yards, seven touchdown tosses and one interception in his last three outings), and Houston’s defense was 24th in the league in points allowed per game before Sunday’s showdown. With a struggling defense, the Texans will likely be forced to throw plenty more this season.
That gives Hoyer some true fantasy value.
DeAndre Hopkins
There are no Jaguars-related qualifiers with Hopkins—he is a legitimate fantasy stud.
Sunday was his fourth straight game with more than 100 receiving yards, and he boasts open-field speed (4.57 40-yard dash), the ability to make defenders miss after the catch and athleticism at 6’1” to go up and get the ball.
Even with all those traits, the targets number was most encouraging from Sunday’s performance. His 15 targets were nine more than anyone else on the team, which was more of the same given his season totals below:
The Texans are not afraid to lock in on Hopkins and fire the ball his way early and often in 2015. Fortunately for fantasy owners, he has the talent to convert those targets into monster numbers every week.
Cecil Shorts
Hopkins’ target numbers are discouraging if you are relying on any other Houston receiver, including Shorts.
Shorts notched a season-low six targets during Sunday’s game, although he did boast a solid 15.8 yards per catch against his former team in the victory.
Between Hopkins and Arian Foster, Shorts is going to be the third option to get the ball at best for the Texans offense every week. It would be one thing if Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady were the quarterback spreading the ball around to a number of playmakers, but Hoyer (and Ryan Mallett when he played) seemed intent on finding Hopkins.
Shorts only has one touchdown catch on the season and is yet to reach 90 receiving yards in a single game. He is not worthy of occupying a starting role on your fantasy team at this point.
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