After a rough start to the season, the Kansas City ChiefsThe offense is trying to continue to right the ship as players get healthy and newcomers gain confidence. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins it’s the latter, though no one could have said during his debut with the team in the Week 8 win over the Raiders in Las Vegas.

While the future Hall of Fame pass rusher had just two receptions and played in some kind of pitch count, his impact went beyond the box score. Hopkins made several amazing plays that just didn’t work out for him in the bottom line, but his process was refined. That impressed head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes last Sunday, and it looks like it will continue moving forward.

Now over a week into Hopkins’ tenure in Kansas City, what has the team learned about him? Speaking to the media this week, Reid said the 32-year-old is taking everything in stride like a consummate professional. That should result in a higher workload Monday night football against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“He handled things the right way,” Reid said. “I’ve been really diligent about studying and asking questions, staying late, coming in early, the whole business there. His role will continue to grow this week. We’re comfortable with that and I think he’s comfortable with that .”

In the aforementioned Raiders game, Hopkins played 23 offensive snapsgood for 32% of those available. He was targeted three times in the passing game, and a corner route that Mahomes overturned could have boosted his stats even more. He had a potential touchdown and a third-down conversion left on the field as well, further justifying that the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Hopkins showed his ability to find weak spots in coverage in Week 8, also winning man-to-man situations with savvy technique.

Along with tight end Travis Kelce, Hopkins gives the Chiefs two crafty veteran weapons on offense. Not only does this help them in the red zone and on third down, but it should ease traffic and attention for everyone else. Mahomes believes the more Hopkins gets involved, the better the offense will be in all areas of the field.

“Yeah, I think anytime you can get him in there, obviously we’re going to be able to hit some throws down the field,” Mahomes said. “I think hitting him in a medium to long range kind of way will open other guys up the field and take some pressure off other guys in terms of eyes and coverage. Anytime you really have two guys when you’re talking about DeAndre and Trav who are all working in that middle guy range on the football field, it opens up the deeper throws because teams have to account for that.”

To back up Mahomes’ observation, Hopkins remains a dangerous threat beyond the line of scrimmage. In the 2023 campaign, one that saw him surpass the 1,000-yard mark, his target percentage was between 29-34% in the short (32.3%), medium (33.8%) and deep (29.3) zones of the land according to Professional football Focus. Displaying elite marks in all three sections, he proved viable no matter where the piece took him.

With speedy rookie Xavier Worthy in the lineup, Kansas City may not even need Hopkins to gain vertical to help the deep passing game. If he does what he does best, that’s enough for back-to-back Super Bowl winners. Reid and Mahomes seem optimistic about his prospects moving forward, even though the integration process is still being undertaken.

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