Fear not, Tennessee Titans fans: DeAndre Hopkins proving he's more than Julio Jones, Randy Moss

Put your fears to rest. DeAndre Hopkins isn't Randy Moss. Or Andre Johnson. Or Julio Jones. Or Robert Woods. Or . . .

When Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Will Levis needed a receiver to make a contested catch, Hopkins provided, outmuscling Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell on the way to a 47-yard touchdown. When Levis needed a receiver to make a move in space, Hopkins provided, weaving through traffic to turn a red zone crossing route into a 16-yard touchdown.

And when Levis needed a receiver to blaze past the coverage and streak free underneath a go ball, Hopkins provided again, catching a 61-yard touchdown to match his career high for scores in a game.

Performances like these are exactly what the Titans envisioned when they signed Hopkins in July, and exactly what had been missing from this offense in the year-plus since trading A.J. Brown.

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"It was good to see him get out there and go crazy and have one of those games," said running back Derrick Henry, who was instrumental in convincing Hopkins to sign with the Titans. "I knew it was coming sooner or later."

In Hopkins, the Tennessee Titans have a No. 1 receiver. He has showed that all season, but it has never been more evident than in his performance against the Falcons Sunday at Nissan Stadium. He caught four passes for 128 yards and three touchdowns in the Titans' 28-23 win, proving to be more stick of dynamite than safety blanket for Levis in his first NFL career start.

How good DeAndre Hopkins has been

Woods, the Titans' leading receiver in 2022, caught 53 passes for 527 yards and two touchdowns in 17 games. Moss, Johnson and Jones — three Hall of Fame-caliber receivers the Titans brought in during the twilights of their careers — combined for 46 catches, 599 yards and three touchdowns in 26 games.

And Hopkins? He has 31 catches for 504 yards and three touchdowns through seven games.

Yet for as great as the Levis-Hopkins connection was Sunday, the Titans' offense remained balanced. Henry carried 22 times for 101 yards. Since Mike Vrabel took over as Titans coach in 2018, the team is 12-1 in games where they have both a 100-yard rusher and a 100-yard receiver, counting Sunday, and they're scoring 33.6 points per game. Unsurprisingly, though, the Titans went all of 2022 without a performance like this.

Now the balance is back.

"When we've had success offensively, we've been able to, one, throw (deep passes), been able to hold up in protection and two, been able to hit them," Vrabel said.

Hopkins isn't the same receiver he was when he made five Pro Bowls and five All-Pro teams from 2015 to 2020. That guy put up more than 500 receiving yards in a five-game span 18 times. There was a point in 2017 when he caught 51 passes for 851 yards and five touchdowns in seven games.

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That's the version of Hopkins that might get him into the Hall of Fame one day. But the version of Hopkins the Titans are getting now is more than enough to keep the offense afloat after a season and a half of struggles.

It was certainly enough Sunday, and the confidence Levis had in Hopkins will continue to pay off so long as teams continue to stack boxes to take away the run game and leave Hopkins in single coverage.

"The kind of receiver I am, I always want the quarterback to trust me, even if the (defensive back) is on me and I look like I’m covered," Hopkins said. "That’s what we talked about. We knew we were going to go out there and make those plays. (Levis) felt confident in me, trusted me. Obviously just being there for my quarterback, especially a first-time starter, it helps that he’s confident."

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nickusss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: DeAndre Hopkins has Tennessee Titans offense operating how it used to