Baker, Hopkins, named to All-Pro team for Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker, and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, have been named to the All-Pro first and second team, respectively.

For Budda Baker, this will be his second All-Pro selection for the Arizona Cardinals since his rookie season in 2017, when he made it as a special teams player. In 16 games, he had 74 tackles, seven pass breakups, and a sack.

This season, Baker finished with 118 tackles, two sacks, and two interceptions. His first interception came in a game against the Dallas Cowboys, where he picked off Andy Dalton in the red zone to make it the first for his career.

While Baker finished with more tackles last season (147), he still finished with more tackles than any other safety besides Buffalo Bills’ star Jordan Poyer. Despite this, Poyer was left off the All-Pro first team for 2020.

Baker is joined by former Arizona Cardinals teammate Tyrann Mathieu, and Pittsburgh Steelers standout Minkah Fitzpatrick. This season, Mathieu finished with 62 tackles and six interceptions, while Fitzpatrick finished with 79 tackles and four interceptions.

For DeAndre Hopkins, his second-team All-Pro appearance makes it his fifth overall, and second on the second-team (2015).

Hopkins was the spark for the Arizona Cardinals offense this season, as he finished with a franchise record in receptions (115), which also ties his career high. He also finished with 1,407 yards, third-best in the league.  His six touchdowns, however, would be his third lowest in his career.

While the entire second-team has not been announced yet, Hopkins was beat out by receivers Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill and Stefon Diggs for the first team honors. Diggs is the only receiver on the list to finish with more yards and receptions this season than Hopkins. Hill ranked 17th and eighth in receptions and yards, and Adams ranked fifth and third.

The last player to make the All-Pro team for the Cardinals was Chandler Jones in 2019, where he finished with 19 sacks and eight forced fumbles.