Andre's place

[TexanBacker93]

With 140 more yards Andre will join Marvin Harrison (3) and Jerry Rice (4) as the only players in NFL history with 3 separate 1500 yard seasons.

Calvin Johnson has 2 and will probably join them in this pretty elite group within the next couple of years.

The way Andre's looked over the 2nd half of the season I could see him having another great season next year and tying Rice's record.

It'll be hard to keep him out of the HOF regardless of how hard it can be for receivers and our lack of playoff exposure until recently.

[76Texan]

I really hope that AJ has a big play-off run.
Well, make that a few big play-off runs.

[Playoffs]

He does seem to have rounded into good shape right when we'll need him most.

[amazing80]

The problem with Andre is his TD numbers are VERY low and yardage and receptions will most likely be less impressive with this new era football. I really think he needs at LEAST one deep playoff run where he carries this team. He is a specimen but because the terrible football played around him for so long, his numbers are not quite good enough

[theNumber80]

He'll play at a very high level into his mid 30s just like Rice. The dude doesn't rely on his athleticism as much as people would think. He's one of the best route-runners in the game and he'll always have his size going for him.

[Fico]

Andre will have the tenure and career stats, but more importantly he will have claim of being the best at his position during stints of his tenure. That is the most important thing. The borderline players are always good players who had long careers but were never the best at their position during their tenure.

[IDEXAN]

I think Andre is a slam-dunk for the NFL HOF. If he were to retire this year ( which he won't, he's got atleast a couple more years of active play), it would be 5 years before he would be eligible which would also mean the Texans would have been in existence 15 years with "0" HOF members. By then the league would be willing to accept even a marginal Texan HOF candidate so that the team could get off the snide. And Andre Johnson is not a marginal HOF candidate.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Fico

Andre will have the tenure and career stats, but more importantly he will have claim of being the best at his position during stints of his tenure. That is the most important thing. The borderline players are always good players who had long careers but were never the best at their position during their tenure.

Spot on. He isn't some guy who hung around for 15 years as the 7th to 15th best WR while accumulating stats. He has been considered the best, has done rarefied things, has notably been a great guy which isn't supposed to be considered but will be, and has always been in the conversation of who are the best WR's in the league. I'll add one more - he went head to head with the "new best WR" and beat him. Epic moments don't just come in the playoffs.

I also think the talk of him only playing another year or two are silly. He may be about to have another 1500 yd season. That isn't close to quitting time.

[TexanBacker93]

Originally Posted by IDEXAN

I think Andre is a slam-dunk for the NFL HOF. If he were to retire this year ( which he won't, he's got atleast a couple more years of active play), it would be 5 years before he would be eligible which would also mean the Texans would have been in existence 15 years with "0" HOF members. By then the league would be willing to accept even a marginal Texan HOF candidate so that the team could get off the snide. And Andre Johnson is not a marginal HOF candidate.

I'm not so sure voters would put him in just because they want to get the Texans off the snide. John Elway was the first Bronco to get elected to the HOF; 44 years after their inaugural season.

I think he's a lock because of his demeanor as well as his play. He comes across as a genuinely good guy with a strong character. He's a team first player that helped take an expansion team to be one of the elites in the league. They've got to maintain, but look at the other expansion teams in the last 30 years. Which ones were ever considered among the league's elite teams.

As for the lack of TDs...I think, well I hope, voters realize that it's as much to do with the offense as it is his inability to get into the endzone on a regular basis.

[beerlover]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Spot on. He isn't some guy who hung around for 15 years as the 7th to 15th best WR while accumulating stats. He has been considered the best, has done rarefied things, has notably been a great guy which isn't supposed to be considered but will be, and has always been in the conversation of who are the best WR's in the league. I'll add one more - he went head to head with the "new best WR" and beat him. Epic moments don't just come in the playoffs.

If Texans keep winning throughout the playoffs it will all be epic & most certainly Andre Johnson will play a big part.

[Double Barrel]

I dig Andre as much as anyone, but I'm also pragmatic about the Hall of Fame.

Cris Carter thinks Hall of Fame voters don’t appreciate wide receivers

After getting voted down by the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee for the fifth consecutive year, Cris Carter says he thinks the voters oppose his position more than they oppose him.

Speaking to Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin on WQAM, Carter suggested that he, Andre Reed and Tim Brown have been the victims of voters who just don’t appreciate the talent of wide receivers.

-----------------

Carter may have a point. The receiver position lags behind quarterbacks, running backs, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs, with only seven receivers in Canton who started their careers after the 1970 AFL-NFL merger: Irvin, Steve Largent, James Lofton, Art Monk, Jerry Rice, John Stallworth and Lynn Swann. And only two of them, Largent and Rice, were selected in their first year of eligibility. Irvin and Lofton were each voted down twice before being selected, Monk and Stallworth were each voted down seven times and Swann was voted down 13 times before finally making it.

A.J. will have to get in line. I do not see HoF voters giving him a first ballot vote in this pass happy day and age.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

I dig Andre as much as anyone, but I'm also pragmatic about the Hall of Fame.

A.J. will have to get in line. I do not see HoF voters giving him a first ballot vote in this pass happy day and age.

The first ballot debate is a black hole in the NFL. A HUGE part of this first ballot issue in the NFL is who else is in the class. This isn't MLB - there are a limited number of spots each year. We have no idea who AJ will be up against.

[thunderkyss]

I think if he'll need a Super Bowl win with a better than Andre game (he'll have to find the end zone) to be a first ballot guy, regardless who is on the ballot.

Other than that, being on a Super Bowl Championship team will get him in.

No Super Bowl, he has no shot. Unless he goes on to systematically break every receiving record there is.