That was a panic move by the Vikes, and I would bet was initiated by MiN.

They wouldn't offer us the same, since we were in the market for a WR.

Glass half full theory.

An impact player on offense, not on the offensive line would be a first for Smith and Kubiak. I'll take the wait and see approach too

Anyone with nickname Nuke can't be all bad. And compares to Reggie Wayne sounds ok, so yeah, gotta see it here with Texans.

last analysis for now from CBS sports

Nicknamed "Nuke", Hopkins isn't the biggest or fastest, but he plays quick, controlled and tough with reliable hands and focus to locate and pluck. He is a natural receiver with outstanding awareness for the position and has been productive wherever he's been, why should the NFL be any different?


Analysis
Strengths: Nice job catching the ball in stride and immediately creating after the catch with a very good sense of his surroundings, always appearing to have a plan. Deceiving body strength and powers through arm tackles, playing with toughness.

Strong hands with above average body control and focus to highpoint and attack the ball in the air. Tracks the deep ball and shows a second gear to separate at the final moment and finish. Very good short-area burst in his cuts with some beautiful stop-and-go moves and route acceleration to create room.


Good shoulder dip and footwork to set up his routes with very good feel, taking pride in his patterns. Handled quarterback Tajh Boyd's fastballs the past three years and uses his extension to reel-in tough grabs - high, low or outside, he goes and gets it. Uses his body well to box-out defenders and is fearless over the middle.


Changes gears well and knows how to turn on the jets, using his vision and awareness to create. Competitive and physical attitude and wants the ball more than anyone else on the field, never conceding the top receiver distinction to Watkins. Dedicated himself to the weight room this past off-season and it shows on the field. Much improved maturity took even the coaches by surprise with his goal oriented approach and work ethic. Super productive the past three seasons, leaving with school with numerous school and conference records.


Weaknesses: Lean torso with average height and frame with limited growth potential. Won't break a lot of tackles and has room to get stronger. Will have his share of focus drops, running before securing the grab at times.


Will attempt to corral the catch at times instead of using his palms. Lacks track speed and won't be able to leave NFL cornerbacks in his dust on foot speed alone. Showed steady progression each year, but still improving his consistency and is not yet a finished product.


Compares to: Reggie Wayne, WR, Indianapolis Colts - Like Wayne, Hopkins isn't the biggest or fastest, but he's able to manipulate his routes to create separation and is a reliable pass catcher with the body control, focus and competitive nature to finish. And like Wayne (30th pick in the 2001 NFL Draft), Hopkins will likely fall out of the top-25 picks and prove to be an excellent value in the late first or early second round

First Round complete:

1 Kansas City Eric Fisher (OT) C Michigan
2 Jacksonville Luke Joeckel (OT) Texas A&M
3 Miami Dion Jordan (OLB) Oregon
4 Philadelphia Lane Johnson (OT) Oklahoma
5 Detroit Ezekiel Ansah (DE) BYU
6 Cleveland Barkevious Mingo (DE) LSU
7 Arizona Jonathan Cooper (OG) UNC
8 St. Louis Tavon Austin (WR) W Virginia
9 NY Jets Dee Milliner (CB) Alabama
10 Tennessee Chance Warmack (OG) Alabama
11 San Diego D.J. Fluker (OT) Alabama
12 Oakland DJ Hayden (CB) Houston
13 NY Jets Sheldon Richardson (DT) Missouri
14 Carolina Star Lotulelei (DT) Utah
15 New Orleans Kenny Vaccaro (S) Texas
16 Buffalo EJ Manuel (QB) Florida St
17 Pittsburgh Jarvis Jones (OLB) Georgia
18 San Francisco Eric Reid (S) LSU
19 NY Giants Justin Pugh (OT) Syracuse
20 Chicago Kyle Long (OG) Oregon
21 Cincinnati Tyler Eifert (TE) Notre Dame
22 Atlanta Desmond Trufant (CB) Washington
23 Minnesota Sharrif Floyd (DT) Florida
24 Indianapolis Bjoern Werner (DE) Florida St
25 Minnesota Xavier Rhodes (CB) Florida St
26 Green Bay Datone Jones (DE) UCLA
27 Houston DeAndre Hopkins (WR) Clemson
28 Denver Sylvester Williams (DT) UNC
29 Minnesota Cordarrelle Patterson (WR) Tennessee
30 St. Louis Alec Ogletree (ILB) Georgia
31 Dallas Travis Frederick (C) Wisconsin
32 Baltimore Matt Elam (S) Florida

Monti Te'o tweeted that he was proud to be selected by the 49ers in the first round.

Or at least he should have tweeted that if he had a quality sense of humor. :p

A lot of people had Hopkins at the top of their board and the most starter-ready/ most polished WR in the draft. That's exactly what the Texans need right now. They"re in a SB push and need someone who can step in right now that can consistently catch the ball and produce. Yes, some of the other guys have more speed and maybe a higher upside, but they also have some Jacoby Jones to them too. This was a good, solid pick and I doubt they're done at WR this draft.

I watch a few College games but I have never pretended to know enough about College Football to project whether a guy from Texas or Morehouse St will be better. I watch no film and don't tune in to Senior Bowl practices or the combine on NFLN. So I tend to restrict my opinions to what position we select and how that fits with our roster and identity.

With that said, I like that we appeared to have our choice of WRs and wanted Hopkins above the rest. I have serious doubts about our ability to use a 2nd WR effectively, but at least now we will no if it was a WR corp talent deficit, lack of ability from Schaub, or a stubborness from Kubs. I hope it was #1 but I fear it was mostly #3 with the other two mixed in to varied degrees.

I felt getting a WR in the first was probably something they could have traded down for and still got value but the Texans were obviously in love with Hopkins and, with no Walter and no Posey, this was probably a need pick to start the season. Most WRs do not come into the NFL and star immediately ( AJ included), so this is as much a pick for the future as it is for now.

In DT Sylvester Williams (taken by the Broncos with the next pick) and ILB Kevin Minter, you see some of the talent they passed on to get Hopkins and with the haul the Patriots got from the Vikings at #29, (a 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th), you see what the Texans might have been able to do with a trade down.

Overall, this is the general Texans MO under Rick Smith is not gamble. Sit and wait your turn without gambling. I think the only time the Texans have seriously traded down was when they just didn't like the choices they saw in the second round. Hopefully, some help at DL, ILB, RT and FB/TE will still be around later for us to scoop up. With three picks on Friday, we should get more chances to cheer or disagree.

This is the conclusion I reached also. Like barrett I don't watch nearly enough college football or pay any real attention to the combine and the chatter so I don't have the seasoned and reasoned opinions on guys that a lot of you do. The Texans clearly had some attractive options in terms of trading down as well as other receivers that they rejected in favor of Hopkins. They obviously love him and that's good enough for me. The consensus seems to be that he's the most NFL ready receiver in the draft and that's plainly what the team needs.

I'm not sure how we can get on the Texans for not trading down when 1) we don't even know if they did or didn't try, and 2) we have no vision into their thought process or their draft board. It seemed to me like they took a long time to get the pick in so maybe they were fielding calls. Maybe nobody wanted to work a deal with them. Speculating on that is about as silly as mock drafts.

Of course the "most NFL ready player at that position" line was the same justification they gave for taking Kareem Jackson.

Just sayin'.

To summerize the pick, Hopkins was the most polished, complete receiver, with good size and speed, in the entire draft. He's gonna step in at the #2 and help this team win NOW. There are no holes in his game, which is rare for a three year player.

C. Patterson was the sexier pick, imo, but he's probably a few years away from being at Hopkins' current level. There is also a risk he(Patterson) would never develop, ala Jacoby Jones, past where he is now.

Very Solid Pick by the Texans. A player like "Nuk" to complement AJ is long overdue.

Very happy with Hopkins, he was the top pick on my board for us for awhile by that point but I thought they'd go with one of the Tennessee WEd, so I was pleasantly surprised.

This is an interesting tidbit from Peter King's most recent MMQB...

After looking back and seeing who got drafted between picks #22-#27, I'm glad the Texans didn't do that deal because I'm 99.999% certain they still would've drafted Hopkins.

http://tinyurl.com/cmuvnw9

I think you are right. They were locked into Hopkins.

The talks between the Texans and Rams that night didn't end there. Also according to Peter King in his story about the Rams in the issue of SI that came after the draft (not sure if it's online), the Texans turned down the deal when the Rams were on the clock at 22. So the Rams traded with the Falcons, down to 30.

When the Texans were up at 27, Jeff Fisher called Rick Smith and offered a 6th rounder (#198) to move up from 30. Smith wanted a 4th rounder (#113), so the Rams passed and the Texans took Hopkins.

If they'd moved down to 30 Hopkins may or may not have been there. The Vikings jumped way up from 52 to 29 to take WR Cordarelle Patterson.

Sometimes the best moves are the moves not made. And I agree that it looks like the Texans had Hopkins in their sites in the trade up talks.