DeAndre Hopkins takes to Twitter to recruit players

DeAndre Hopkins wants to recruit some free agents to join him in Houston. The Texans receiver has used his Twitter account to try and convince some free agents to join the Texans this off-season.

Up first, New England Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler.

As a result of Butler’s surprising benching in the Super Bowl, Hopkins tagged Butler in this tweet. It is not a secret that Houston needs to upgrade their cornerbacks. Signing Butler would be a huge move for the Texans. Due to the playmaking ability of Butler the Texans defense would transform into one of the better units in the league.

While some of the blame belongs to the lackluster pass rush of the Texans, simply put the Houston defensive backs were unable to cover adequately. This resulted in opposing quarterbacks having highly productive outings when facing Houston. This needs to change, signing Butler would do that. His potential impact is broken down more in depth in a previous article.

Next up is Seattle Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham.

Hopkins posted an image with a Texans jersey photoshopped onto Graham. Sometimes using a visual aid will help in the recruitment of a player. Graham is still capable of being one of the more productive tight ends in the league. Having said that his time in Seattle has produced mixed results. The contrast between offensive schemes in New Orleans and Seattle is the reason for this. Rather than a pass heavy offense in New Orleans, Seattle relied upon a run oriented attack.

The offense has evolved since his arrival. Marshawn Lynch was the workhorse in Seattle, since his departure the Seahawks have evolved into a more pass oriented offense. This contributed to Graham’s drastic improvement the past two seasons.

Another receiving target would allow Hopkins to face more favorable coverages. It would take the pressure off of him to be the main receiving target of the offense. It would give Deshaun Watson more legitimate receiving targets to throw to. In the end it would make the offense even more prolific when all the components are on the field at the same time.

Houston could use both players next season. A young productive corner in Butler and a productive tight end in Graham would allow Houston to take the next step forward. It also would allow the absence of not having a draft pick in the first two rounds not hurt as much. Improvements are needed via free agency this off-season and these are the type of players they need to sign.