The Los Angeles Rams selected Purdue tight end Brycen Hopkins in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft after a trade with the Houston Texans. The Rams originally were set to pick at No. 126, but traded back to 136 and took Hopkins in addition to acquiring a pair of picks at the end of the seventh round.
The pick was a bit interesting considering the Rams already have two quality tight ends in Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett. With Everett heading into the final year of his contract though, the addition of Hopkins serves as insurance in case he departs a year from now.
Hopkins actually has a connection to Higbee as Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm previously coached the latter at Western Kentucky. According to Stu Jackson of TheRams.com, Hopkins watched a ton of film on Higbee while he was in school:
New Rams TE Brycen Hopkins said “a lot of the film” he watched at Purdue was of Western Kentucky and Tyler Higbee.
“We would watch Higbee and the tight ends there and how they ran the plays and try to mirror that, or if we can, maybe adjust it even better to our own offense.”
— Stu Jackson (@StuJRams) April 25, 2020
Hopkins’ game more resembles Everett than Higbee though as he is more known for his receiving than blocking. In 11 games in 2019, he had career-highs across the board in catches (61), receiving yards (830) and touchdowns (7).
A big focus of the Rams this draft has been revamping their skilled positions, drafting running back Cam Akers and wide receiver Van Jefferson in the second round in addition to Hopkins.
That should help take some pressure off Jared Goff, who is coming off a bit of a down season in 2019 when the Rams finished 9-7 and missed the postseason.
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