Early this week, it was revealed that potential 1st round pick DeAndre Hopkins' hotel room at the NFL combine was left trashed. Even though Hopkins has claimed that he was able to get an early flight out from Indianapolis that week and left the room in perfectly good condition his draft status could take a downturn. Should one incident like this one be overlooked by NFL teams?
Hopkins play on the field speaks for itself. In his freshman year at Clemson he quickly established himself as a go to receiver. Talent was weak at receiver but Nuk stepped up and made plays. He did well again as a sophomore and came up just short of 100 yards. Though he was overlooked as' freshman phenom, Sammy Watkins had a brilliant year, Hopkins was arguably Clemson's most dependable receiver. And once again in his junior season his stats improved. Not only did they improve, he set records for receiving yardage and touchdowns. Hopkins made big play after big play. In tight games when Clemson needed a catch, for example Auburn and LSU, Hopkins was the guy that got the call to make a play. Hopkins showed in his tenure at Clemson that he will not settle for being mediocre and wants the ball when the game is on the line.
Not only was Hopkins good on the field but his character has been high off the field as well. While at Clemson, Nuk had no issues academically or an issues with the law. He was never suspended in his college career and was never in the coaches dog house. If anything, DeAndre was the exact opposite. He's a lead by example kind of guy. He didn't run his mouth over social media and never brought attention upon himself. Hopkins is a well rounded individual that had some tough times and experienced pained through family tragedy and not once has he let those experiences get to him.
NFL teams are sure investigate the recent news about the hotel room that was left trashed. If they do their research properly they'll find that the actions that are accused or assumed to be that of Hopkins and his Rutgers roommate at the combine are not of Hopkins character. If 2 or 3 teams decide to draft another receiver over him he could fall 10-15 spots. What a shame for a young man who has done everything right both on and off the field. There not many guarantees in the NFL draft buy one thing is for certain; the team that drafts DeAndre Hopkins will be extremely happy with him as their pick.
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