Hopkins Has to Get Right & Soon

On a team with no margin for error, Dustin Hopkins is extra important. So far, he's been a disappointment for the Washington Football Team.

Washington Football Team kicker Dustin Hopkins has been with the team since 2015. Hopkins was signed early in the 2015 season to replace Kai Forbath, who had become unreliable.

Hopkins would go on to quietly become one of the NFL’s most reliable kickers over the next few seasons. He even earned a contract extension in 2018.

So, why are we discussing Washington’s kicker?

Hopkins’ lack of consistency in recent seasons has cost Washington games. During his time in D.C., Hopkins is money from 30-39 yards out, having connected on 40-43 attempts. Sure, you’d like that to be perfect, but demanding perfection from any one player or person is unreasonable.

The most notable exception of Hopkins’ missing from 30-39 yards out was Washington’s overtime tie with Cincinnati back in 2016. Hopkins missed a 34-yarder wide left with just over two minutes remaining in overtime. That game came back to hurt Washington later that season.

So, how is Hopkins from 40-49 yards out during his time with Washington?

Hopkins has hit 39 of 49 attempts from over the course of the past six seasons. He missed two from this range last season and has already missed two this season. Hopkins missed another kick in Week 6 that could have propelled the team to its second victory of the season.

Again, not bad.

Paying for a kicker is not at the top of any team’s needs. If Washington were an annual contender, Hopkins’ numbers wouldn’t be cause for concern. A better team could overcome a kicker missing key kicks.

Washington can’t. And hasn’t been able to for a while now.

So, why hasn’t the team at least brought competition in for Hopkins?

That is a reasonable question. In the past regime, Hopkins was never in danger of losing his job. He was signed by Bruce Allen and extended by Allen. That meant Hopkins was a made man.

When Ron Rivera took over as head coach in 2020, he said he would evaluate every position, Even the kicker.

Only he hasn’t.

This week, Rivera met with the media and discussed Hopkins when questioned about him missing a kick in the New York Giants’ loss.

"I’m not considering making a change," Rivera said regarding his kicker.

Why not, Coach?

Hopkins has connected on 70 percent of his kicks in 2020. That’s near the bottom of the NFL. Sure, some of those kicks have been from long range, but is that a problem for Justin Tucker?

Rivera has had no qualms about replacing players in the starting lineup who were struggling. He benched 2019 first-round pick Dwayne Haskins two weeks ago, and recently sat underperforming safety Troy Apke.

Why is Hopkins any different?

Only Rivera has that answer, but with so much going on during his first year in Washington, a new kicker is probably the least of his worries.

However, if Hopkins continues to have issues, his job security for 2021 will certainly be in peril. 

Bryan Manning writes about the Washington Football Team for 'Washington Football' and contributed to All Hokies on SI.com as well. He has covered the NFL, MLB, NBA, college football and college basketball for almost 10 years for various outlets such as Bleacher Report, SB Nation, FanSided, USA Today SMG, and others. For his day job, Bryan works in engineering for a major communications company.