Every time a big pass-catching tight end comes into the NFL, he seemingly has the nickname "Baby Gronk" in deference to New England's Rob Gronkowski.
Those players typically end up fading away quickly because, much like Christopher Lambert's immortal character from the cult classic, "Highlander," there can be only one.
But the comparison between Gronkowski and Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins might be a fair one. If there's a receiver in the NFL who plays like New England's All-Pro tight end, it's Hopkins. Put a physical cornerback on him, and Hopkins will use his speed to run by them while still having the strength to outmuscle most cornerbacks at the point of attack. Put a finesse corner on him, and it's no contest. Hopkins will beat them up.
Slowing Hopkins will be one of the tasks the Steelers (11-3) face Monday when they travel to Houston to take on the Texans (4-10) in a Christmas Day matinee. Taking it further, if the Texans have a shot at upsetting the Steelers, it will be because Pittsburgh was unable to keep Hopkins under wraps.
"He is a great football player," Keith Butler said of Hopkins. "He reminds me a lot of, you probably won’t like me saying this, but he’s the second-best wide receiver in the league and we have the best wide receiver in the league, I think. This guy is a close second and he does a great job running routes. He does a great job combating for the catch. He is going to be a major problem for us to try and stop, so we have a lot of respect for him. We have some things we're going to try to do to limit him as much as we can. I don’t think you can stop him. I think you just try to minimize him as much as you can. You’re not going to stop him."
If that plan sounds familiar, it's because the Steelers took a similar tack into their 27-24 loss last Sunday against Gronkowski and New England. The Steelers kept Gronkowski in check for a half, limiting him to two receptions for 33 yards on three targets. But when the game was on the line, even though the Steelers knew Gronkowski was getting the ball thrown his way, they found themselves unable to stop it. He finished with nine receptions for 168 yards, almost single-handedly beating them.
Though the Texans haven't had much success as a team, Hopkins presents some of the same challenges for a secondary. He leads the NFL in targets with 170, an average of more than 12 per game. And despite playing with three different quarterbacks, he's just behind Antonio Brown -- whom Butler was referring to as the league's best receiver -- with 92 catches for 1,313 yards. His 12 receiving touchdowns lead the league.
"He’s up there with the most physical guys in the league," said Joe Haden, who is set to return to the lineup after missing the past five games with a fractured fibula. "He reminds me of Anquan Boldin. He wants you to get that contact on him so he can play you against your leverage. He likes that. I think he feels like once you get on him, he plays really well with his body, making those contact catches. He likes when you’re on him because he can get that quick separation."
Getting Haden back this week will help. Between him and Artie Burns on the opposite side and Mike Hilton in the slot, the Steelers feel they have three solid cover corners. It's a group that allowed 180 passing yards per game when Haden was healthy. Without him the past five weeks, the Steelers have seen their yards per game average rise to 207.
Haden feels he has a solid plan for how to attack Hopkins.
"I’m just going to not let him touch me as much, just stay around him," Haden told DKPittsburghSports.com. "I want to be free to undercut and stuff. Because once you get up on him, that’s when he can give you that little push. That’s why I want to give him that space."
It also might be prudent considering Hopkins leads NFL receivers in both drawing and committing penalties. He has drawn 13 penalties for 165 yards while committing five offensive pass interference penalties of his own.
That could be troublesome, especially against Burns. Burns is tied for the league lead among cornerbacks with eight penalties accepted against him this season. He has had two declined.
But Burns won't change his style of play against Hopkins, telling me he enjoys being physical.
"He definitely plays through everything. I don’t know if he’s the most physical, but he’s definitely one of the top physical receivers," Burns told DKPittsburghSports.com. "There’s a couple of other physical receivers out there. But that’s one thing that jumps out. He’s physical and good with his hands. He knows how to deal with it. He knows how to adjust his body despite the contact. He’s got good contact balance through the route. When a DB is battling with him, he knows how to keep his balance and make a play on the ball."
It's something Hopkins has done throughout his career.
Martavis Bryant played with Hopkins in college at Clemson -- the Tigers also had former first-round draft pick Sammy Watkins on the roster, as well -- and saw that same desire to fight for the ball then that he sees now.
"He’s always been like that," Bryant said. "I saw him every day for three years in college. Everything he’s doing, he did then."
Perhaps having been beaten and beaten up by Gronkowski last week will give the Steelers a better idea of how to handle this physical battle. At least that's the hope.
It also doesn't hurt that it's T.J. Yates, not Tom Brady, trying to get the ball to Hopkins.
"Gronk is the best in the league," Burns told me. "The best thing you can try to do is minimize, not X amount, but minimize. That’s what the plan has to be. We may give up this or that, but we can’t give up big plays."
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