Would DeAndre Hopkins Still Fall To Texans In A 2013 Redraft? Would Cordarrelle Patterson Have Been The Better Choice?

Perhaps it's a bit early, but who cares? Bucky Brooks of the official embedded-videos-play-automatically website of the NFL has re-drafted the 2013 class after one season's worth of production from them.

So who does he envision the Texans taking in this hypothetical do-over? None other than Clemson wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

27. Houston Texans

Pick: DeAndre Hopkins

Do-over: Same

Comment: Hopkins capably served as Andre Johnson's sidekick as a rookie starter.

Nothing too insightful from Brooks here, but it's worth noting that current Vikings wide receiver Cordarelle Patterson got a 20-slot boost as the ninth pick to the New York Jets in Brooks' world. In the real world, Patterson was taken two picks after Hopkins at 29.

9. New York Jets

Pick: Dee Milliner

Do-over: Cordarrelle Patterson

Comment: The Jets' offense desperately needs playmakers on the offensive side of the ball. Patterson is a home-run threat capable of scoring from anywhere on the field as a receiver or returner.

I think this is pretty interesting and is worth discussing here. Hopkins was valued as the most pro-ready wide receiver in the 2013 class, while Patterson had the most physical upside but unrefined technical skills.  They entered the league as polar opposite prospects at the receiver position, and it certainly showed after one year. Hopkins almost doubled Patterson's receiving numbers, but Patterson's athleticism paid big dividends, allowing him to score triple the amount of touchdowns (receiving, rushing and kick returns) and gave the Vikings a major threat returning kicks.

Of course, it's way too early to decide who will be more valuable, and the quarterback situations for both players makes judging them not really fair, but for the purposes of this post, pretend you're back in April of 2013 and you're in charge of the Houston Texans' draft. With your newly-acquired foresight, who would you rather take at pick 27-- Hopkins (with his precision route-running and sticky hands) or Patterson (with his other-worldly athleticism)?

As for me, Patterson's physical abilities are certainly tempting to take, but there's no guarantee that he'll develop the finesse skills of the elite wide receivers... Stephen Hill and Devin Hester are testaments to that. Hopkins certainly isn't quite as impressive physically as Patterson, but the luxury of knowing that he'll be exactly where you need him to be (with sure hands, to boot) on any given play sure is nice. It's tough to decide, but I'm sticking with DeAndre.

How about you? Read Brooks' full re-draft results and have at it in the Comments. Happy Friday.