Redskins activate Dustin Hopkins from Injured Reserve, waive Nick Rose

The Washington Redskins have officially activated one of their players from Injured Reserve. Kicker Dustin Hopkins is the man.

When Dustin Hopkins initially injured his hip in mid-October, it was expected that the Redskins kicker was only going to be week-to-week with his injury. However, shortly after that news broke, Hopkins was placed on Injured Reserve and was expected to miss the entirety of the 2017 season. There were some who believed that he would return late in the year while others believed that his replacement would have a chance to beat out the kicker for various reasons.

On Saturday, the Redskins confirmed that Hopkins is their man by activating him from the IR. In a corresponding roster move, the team waived Nick Rose, the former Texas kicker who had filled in for Hopkins in his eight game absence. This move was always a possibility, and it should be interesting to see how Hopkins fares for the rest of the season.

Many believed that a strong performance from Rose could end up pushing Hopkins off the 53-man roster in 2018. This was largely due to his less than stellar field goal percentage from beyond 50 yards. Over the course of three years as a starter in Washington, Hopkins has only gone 5-for-13 on kicks from beyond 50 yards. While 50 yarders are difficult to make, a quality NFL kicker should be able to make at least half of his attempts from that range.

More from Riggo's Rag

Comparatively, in his eight games with the Redskins, Rose had gone 10-for-11 in field goal attempts with a long of 55. He definitely has the leg to be an effective NFL kicker, but he proved to be a bit inaccurate at times. his one missed field goal came from inside of 30 yards and he also went just 18-of-20 on extra point attempts. That lack of confidence in Rose from that range is likely what led the team to activate Hopkins and part ways with him.

Either way, the Redskins had a quality option at their disposal. Hopkins has proven to be a very good kicker at times. The team just can’t rely on him to make deep field goals consistently. And as for Rose, they could rely on him to hit a kick from anywhere on the field, but he also might miss an easy one on occasion. Rolling with the veteran Hopkins makes sense given that he probably has more confidence and is familiar with the Redskins system.

Next: 5 Bold predictions for Redskins vs. Cardinals in NFL Week 15

The bright side for the team is that they now have a familiar face available on the kicking market. Should they ever need to replace an injured kicker again, Rose will probably be the first guy that they call.

Home/Commanders News