Grading the Dustin Hopkins re-signing for the Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins inked Dustin Hopkins to a deal before the start of free agency. Here’s the grade they deserve of retaining their kicker.
When Dustin Hopkins re-signed with the Washington Redskins on Monday, it wasn’t too big of a surprise. However, it wasn’t too long ago that re-signing Hopkins seemed like something that might not happen.
Midway through the 2017 campaign, suffered an injury that landed him on Injured Reserve. At the time, it was thought that the injury might spell the end of the kicker’s time in Washington. After all, he had struggled kicking from beyond 50 yards, and if the team was able to find a quality, young kicker to replace him, then Hopkins would probably be looking for work elsewhere in 2018.
Well, the replacement kicker certainly looked capable enough to replace Hopkins. In eight games, Nick Rose went 10-of-11 on field goals and nailed a 55-yard field goal. He also converted on 18-of-20 extra points, so he was generally pretty consistent. The most impressive thing he did though was make the 55 yarder with no problem, as he demonstrated the leg strength necessary to be a quality NFL kicker. However, the Redskins waived him after the return of Hopkins.
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The leg strength Rose possesses is something that Hopkins has lacked during his career. In three years with the Redskins, Hopkins has only made 5-of-13 field goals from 50-plus yards, and he missed both of his attempts from that range in 2017.
That said, Hopkins has been hyper-accurate from within 50 yards, and he is 67-of-73 on attempts of 49 yards or less. That’s a percentage of 91.7, which is excellent. And he’s even better within 40 yards, where he only has two career misses. So, the Redskins are getting an accurate and reliable close-range kicker. While that may not seem valuable, at least they know they can rely on him to make kicks inside a certain range.
Still, there is a lot to be desired after this signing. Hopkins is just about a league average kicker at his best because of his lack of leg strength. That said, he is being paid like a league average kicker, ranking 15th in average annual value at the kicker position. So, this grade can’t be too low, as they are paying average amount for an average player.
Hopkins has a bit of upside, but it seems that he is more of an middle-of-the-pack type guy who can hold down the role as the kicker. He will be solid but unspectacular, and he certainly won’t be the kind of kicker you can rely on to make extra long field goals in critical moments. But, he’s being paid at the proper level for his skill set. So, this deserves an average grade.
Next: Grading the Paul Richardson signing for the Redskins