Dustin Hopkins

Dustin Hopkins
refer to caption
Hopkins with the Redskins in 2017
No. 3 – Washington Redskins
Position: Placekicker
Personal information
Born: (1990-10-01) October 1, 1990
Austin, Texas
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight: 203 lb (92 kg)
Career information
High school: Houston (TX) Clear Lake
College: Florida State
NFL Draft: 2013 / Round: 6 / Pick: 177
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2017
FG made: 73
FG attempted: 87
FG%: 83.9
Longest FG: 54
Touchbacks: 146
Player stats at NFL.com

Dustin Hopkins (born October 1, 1990) is an American football placekicker for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

College career

Hopkins was recruited by Florida State when then Seminoles special teams coordinator Jody Allen watched high school game film of Hopkins's kickoffs. Interest was also shown by Notre Dame.[1]

As a freshman in 2009, Hopkins hit 19 of 27 field goals, or approximately 70%, over the course of 2009. On November 13, 2010, against Clemson, Florida State, who was trailing the entire game, made a comeback in the 4th quarter. With less than a minute left in regulation, tied at 13, Florida State marched down into Clemson territory, where, with 3 seconds left, Hopkins made a 55-yard field goal to win the game. This was an important ACC victory for the Seminoles.

In 2011, while playing against Wake Forest, Hopkins kicked his 109th point after try (PAT) in a row, breaking the previous FSU record. He would not miss a PAT until September 8, 2012, leaving him at 145 successful attempts, the sixth longest streak in NCAA history.[2]

On November 18, 2012, Hopkins set the NCAA Division I FBS record for career points scored by a kicker at 442 points with a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter versus the Maryland Terrapins. Hopkins would finish the day with six more points upping the record to 448 points.[3] His record for most career field goals was later broken in 2016 by Arizona State University kicker Zane Gonzalez.[4]

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Hopkins was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round (177th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft, joining punter Shawn Powell and quarterback EJ Manuel, his former teammates at Florida State.

On May 10, 2013, Hopkins signed a four-year contract with the Buffalo Bills.[5]

On August 19, 2013, Hopkins was named the starting placekicker over veteran Rian Lindell.[6] On September 2, 2013, Hopkins was revealed to have sustained a groin injury. This prompted the Bills to sign Dan Carpenter. Due to a slow recovery from that injury and the need to further open roster spots, Hopkins was placed on injured reserve following Week 5.

Hopkins was given a chance to earn back his roster spot during the 2014 season, but lost the kicking competition to Carpenter; the Bills released Hopkins on August 25, 2014.[7]

New Orleans Saints

Hopkins was signed to the New Orleans Saints practice squad on December 17, 2014.[8] He was then signed to a future/reserve contract at the end of the 2014 season and competed for placekicking duties with Shayne Graham.[9]

On September 5, 2015, the Saints announced they had released Hopkins after losing the competition to Zach Hocker.[10]

Washington Redskins

Hopkins and Marquette King in a game against the Oakland Raiders

Hopkins was signed by the Washington Redskins on September 14, 2015, after they had released Kai Forbath.[11] On October 18, 2015, Hopkins kicked a career-long 54-yard field goal against the New York Jets.[12] On November 15, 2015, Hopkins kicked a career-high four field goals against the New Orleans Saints.[13] On October 30, 2016, Hopkins missed a potential game winner in the late stages of overtime which would eventually end in a 27-27 tie against the Cincinnati Bengals.[14] During the 2016 season, Hopkins set a franchise record with 34 field goals made.[15] On October 15, 2017, Hopkins suffered a partially torn hip muscle during a game against the San Francisco 49ers, and was placed on injured reserve days later.[16] He was activated back to the 53-man roster on December 16, 2017.[17]

On March 12, 2018, Hopkins signed a three-year contract extension with the Redskins.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Florida State kicker Dustin Hopkins draws praise, but accuracy is off. The Miami Herald website, posted on 2009-02-10. Accessed on 2009-10-10.
  2. ↑ "Florida State Team Notes â€". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  3. ↑ "No. 10 Florida State beats Maryland 41-14 - Yahoo Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. 2012-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  4. ↑ http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/17750925/arizona%C2%A0state-kicker-zane%C2%A0gonzalez%C2%A0breaks-ncaa-record-made-field-goals
  5. ↑ "Bills sign Marquise Goodwin, Dustin Hopkins, two other draft picks | ProFootballTalk". Profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  6. ↑ Chris Brown. "Dustin Hopkins excited about job, grateful to Lindell". Buffalobills.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  7. ↑ Chris Brown (2014-08-25). "Bills reduce roster to required 75". Buffalobills.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  8. ↑ "New Orleans Saints add kicker Dustin Hopkins to practice squad". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  9. ↑ "New Orleans Saints roster tracker: Live updates as the Saints reduce their roster to 53 players". Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  10. ↑ Triplett, Mike (September 5, 2015). "New Orleans Saints cut 22 players, including Stanley Jean-Baptiste". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  11. ↑ Jones, Mike. "Redskins cut Kai Forbath, sign former Saints place kicker Dustin Hopkins". Washington Post. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  12. ↑ "Redskins vs. Jets - Box Score - October 18, 2015 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  13. ↑ "Saints vs. Redskins - Box Score - November 15, 2015 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  14. ↑ Burke, Chris. "Redskins are the latest team fit to be tied after Jay Gruden plays it too safe". SI.com. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  15. ↑ "Washington Redskins Single-Season Kicking & Punting Leaders". Retrieved 2017-08-01.
  16. ↑ Bergman, Jeremy. "Redskins sign kicker Nick Rose to replace Hopkins". NFL.com. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  17. ↑ Czarda, Stephen (December 16, 2017). "Redskins Activate Kicker Dustin Hopkins". Redskins.com.
  18. ↑ Czarda, Stephen (March 12, 2018). "Redskins Re-Sign Kicker Dustin Hopkins". Redskins.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.