Dustin Hopkins

Dustin Hopkins (born October 1, 1990) is an American football placekicker for the Washington Football Team 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.

Dustin Hopkins
Hopkins with the Redskins in 2017
No. 3 – Washington Football Team
Position:Placekicker
Personal information
Born: (1990-10-01) October 1, 1990
Austin, Texas
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:205 lb (93 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 2020
Field goals made:151
Field goals attempted:180
Field goal %:83.9
Longest field goal:56
Touchbacks:315
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

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 with the 177th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, joining punter Shawn Powell and quarterback EJ Manuel, his former teammates at Florida State.[5]

On May 10, 2013, Hopkins signed a four-year contract with the Buffalo Bills.[6]

On August 19, 2013, Hopkins was named the starting placekicker over veteran Rian Lindell.[7] 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.[8]

New Orleans Saints

Hopkins was signed to the New Orleans Saints practice squad on December 17, 2014.[9] He was then signed to a future/reserve contract at the end of the 2014 season and competed for placekicking duties with Shayne Graham.[10]

On September 5, 2015, the Saints announced they had released Hopkins after losing the competition to Zach Hocker.[11]

Washington Redskins / Football Team
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.[12] On October 14, 2018, Hopkins kicked a career-long 56-yard field goal against the Carolina Panthers.[13] On November 15, 2015, Hopkins kicked a career-high four field goals against the New Orleans Saints.[14] 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.[15] During the 2016 season, Hopkins set a franchise record with 34 field goals made.[16] 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.[17] He was activated back to the 53-man roster on December 16, 2017.[18]

On March 12, 2018, Hopkins signed a three-year contract extension with the Redskins.[19] On the 2018 season, Hopkins converted 25 of 26 extra point attempts and 26 of 29 field goal attempts.[20] In the 2019 season, Hopkins converted 21 of 22 extra point attempts and 25 of 30 field goal attempts.[21]

In Week 6 of the 2020 season, Hopkins missed a 47-yard field goal attempt against the New York Giants.[22] The Giants would win the game with the final score at 19-20 with Head Coach Ron Rivera choosing a two-point attempt instead of sending Hopkins to attempt the extra point and potentially bringing the game to overtime. The next week, Hopkins would miss a 44-yard field goal in the win over the Dallas Cowboys.[23] In the Week 10 loss to the Detroit Lions, Hopkins missed another field goal attempt at 43 yards with the final score of the game at 27-30.[24] After the game when asked if he was considering bringing in another kicker, Head Coach Ron Rivera stated “Well, it is something that we are talking about and discussing.”[25]

In Week 13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Hopkins was a perfect 3 for 3 on his field goal attempts and 2 for 2 on his extra point attempts during the 23–17 win. This was the Steelers’ first loss of the season. Hopkins was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in Week 13.[26]

References
  1. Florida State kicker Dustin Hopkins draws praise, but accuracy is off. The Miami Herald website, posted on February 10, 2009. Accessed on October 10, 2009.
  2. "Florida State Team Notes â€". Usatoday.com. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  3. "No. 10 Florida State beats Maryland 41-14 - Yahoo Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. November 17, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  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. "2013 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  6. "Bills sign Marquise Goodwin, Dustin Hopkins, two other draft picks". ProFootballTalk. May 10, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  7. Brown, Chris. "Dustin Hopkins excited about job, grateful to Lindell". Buffalo Bills. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  8. Brown, Chris (August 25, 2014). "Bills reduce roster to required 75". Buffalo Bills. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  9. Woodbery, Evan (December 18, 2014). "New Orleans Saints add kicker Dustin Hopkins to practice squad". NOLA.com. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  10. Terrell, Katherine (September 5, 2015). "New Orleans Saints roster tracker: Live updates as the Saints reduce their roster to 53 players". NOLA.com. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  11. Triplett, Mike (September 5, 2015). "New Orleans Saints cut 22 players, including Stanley Jean-Baptiste". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  12. Jones, Mike (September 14, 2015). "Redskins cut Kai Forbath, sign former Saints place kicker Dustin Hopkins". Washington Post. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
  13. "Redskins vs. Panthers - Box Score - October 14, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  14. "Saints vs. Redskins - Box Score - November 15, 2015 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  15. Burke, Chris (October 30, 2016). "Redskins are the latest team fit to be tied after Jay Gruden plays it too safe". SI.com. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  16. "Washington Redskins Single-Season Kicking & Punting Leaders". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  17. Bergman, Jeremy (October 17, 2017). "Redskins sign kicker Nick Rose to replace Hopkins". NFL.com. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  18. Czarda, Stephen (December 16, 2017). "Redskins Activate Kicker Dustin Hopkins". Redskins.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017.
  19. Czarda, Stephen (March 12, 2018). "Redskins Re-Sign Kicker Dustin Hopkins". Redskins.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  20. "Dustin Hopkins 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  21. "Dustin Hopkins 2019 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  22. Boykin, Nick (October 18, 2020). "Gutsy 2-point conversion attempt, turnovers on offense lead to Washington's loss against Giants". WUSA9.com. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  23. Homler, Ryan (October 26, 2020). "Should Washington consider making a change at kicker?". NBCSports.com. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  24. Crabtree, Curtis (November 18, 2020). "Washington sticking with Dustin Hopkins as placekicker". NBCSports.com. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  25. Cadeaux, Ethan (November 17, 2020). "Report: Washington to stick with kicker Dustin Hopkins". NBCSports.com. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  26. "Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, Bills QB Josh Allen lead Players of the Week". NFL.com. December 9, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
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