Breaking News occurred this morning as arguably one of the best Wide Receivers (WRs) in the National Football League was traded to the Arizona Cardinals. The official trade that commenced between the Cardinals and the Texans included the Arizona Cardinals getting WR DeAndre Hopkins and a 2nd round pick and the Houston Texans receiving former Cardinals RB David Johnson, a second round pick and a 2021 fourth round pick.
This is huge news! Especially considering the fantasy impact this trade will have for both teams. Just focusing on the Cardinals, at the moment they have three elite receivers at their disposal.
Starting with Hopkins, his value will stay very high. However, he might dip to the 5th best WR to get next year especially considering PPR leagues since Kyler Murray will have a lot of mouths to feed on the field. Hopkins will be their go-to-guy. I still see him getting over 90 receptions, 1,400 receiving yards and around 10 touchdowns (TDs) just because he's had over 1,160 yards in each of his last three seasons as a Texan (1,378 in 2017, 1572 in 2018, and 1,165 in 2019) and has averaged 10.3 TDs over that span as well (13 TDs in 2017, 11 in 2018, and 7 in 2019).
With DeAndre as the Cardinals number 1 WR, I think Christian Kirk will stay in the number two spot on the team and will be a WR3 or Flex play in fantasy this year for not only PPR, but also standard leagues too. I wouldn't even be surprised to see him get Juju like numbers this year too ( the numbers he got when Brown and Bell still played for the Steelers). For him this would be like over 100 receptions, 1200 yards and 7 TDs. This is because Deandre is going to be drawing a lot of double coverage, so this will be time for Kirk to show everyone what he can do. All this only happens if one player goes off next year, and that's Kyler Murray.
With his newest weapon to work with, Kyler Murray could be a top 5 QB. In fact, I'm going to go as far as to say that Kyler Murray will be the second best Fantasy QB this year if he sustains no injuries during the year (him or players on his offense), if he establishes a connection with Hopkins in the offseason, and if the Cardinals improve their Offensive-line this Offseason. If the Cardinals do all three of these things, they will be one of the most electric offenses in the NFL next season.
Lastly, there is Larry Fitzgerald. Larry the Legend. The Vince Carter of the NFL. At this point in my opinion, (if he stays with the team), he will most likely just be an end zone threat. I don't seem him on the field too much, just because he is rather old and they will want to preserve his talent and skill for essential plays. But it's not like I don't have confidence that he could play every down, I just think they will be smart and limit him to make sure he is healthy for the entire season. With the schedule they play, (arguably the best in the NFL now with playing teams like the 49ers, Seahawks, and Rams twice a year) they will need all the help they can get if they want to make the playoffs. The good news is Larry still has a great connection with Murray. The bad news is with a young star like Hopkins in as their WR1, unless Kirk gets hurt I don't see him as a great play in fantasy this year. Although, there's a reason why Larry is a legend and the numbers don't lie. So If I were you definitely still draft him (draft him in a late round), and, just wait and see how they actually use him. Who knows too, maybe he'll retire. I hope not, but anything can happen, but I do think they will need him this year. Numbers wise, I see Larry with 40 receptions, 7 TDs, and 550 receiving yards this season.
Overall, Hopkins brings an added strength at WR for the Cardinals and I still see him as being a top fantasy WR. If everything goes well for the Cardinals this year, he should be a top 3 receiver if not the best in the league. As for Kirk and Larry, Kirk should be a Fantasy flex and Larry should be on your bench.