99FirehawkTA
Practice Squad
Will Andre Johnson become a household name after the 2004 season? Will Carr to Johnson become just as synonymous as Garcia to Owens or Montana to Rice?
opinions ?
opinions ?
Death to Google Ads! Texans Talk Tip Jar! 🍺😎👍
Thanks for your support!
Andre Johnson set to explode in 2004 season?
- Thread starter 99FirehawkTA
- Start date
Ibar_Harry
All Pro
After he has the ball, Johnson is potentially far more physical than Rice or Owens and can run over people. Johnson had more yards after the catch than anyone. However, he has not demonstrated that he has the hands of Owens or Rice. Rice had a tough 1st year, so we could say the jury is still out. The knock on Johnson was his hands and so far that's the weakest part of his game. It will be interesting to see what this year brings. I keep saying this could be a very exciting year for us as fans. We are going to be very physical with AJ,DD, and perhaps Wade and BJ. We may be able to punish the defense with our offense.
powda
The bridge between stupid and useless is short.
aj has the talent...no doubt about that...i would just like to see his hands become a littlebit more dependable.
...and gaffney/bradford/somebody needs to prove comparable to taylor in order to make a rice montana comparission.
i do think he will become a pro bowler real soon...
...and gaffney/bradford/somebody needs to prove comparable to taylor in order to make a rice montana comparission.
i do think he will become a pro bowler real soon...
Mistril48
Rookie
There is reason to believe that Johnson may show more improvement in 2004 than most sophomores. Johnson showed excellent size and speed for his position, but needs more work on his route running and hands. The good news is that route running and hands (somewhat) are coachable skills, compared to speed and size. In Johnson's case, he left college as a junior, with less college coaching than most players. I also believe that he ran track, rather than participate in spring football at UMiami, again reducing his college coaching.
Vinny
shiny happy fan
I'd disagree with the route running mention. AJ was a surprisingly good route runner last year and it is one of his strengths. I'd probably disagree that he would show more improvement than most WR's going into his second year also since he had one of the better rookie years ever. He can improve on his year but to be one of the guys with a huge improvement is a stretch. The one area he may markedly improve is TD production. He can triple that (4) if he has a great year.Mistril48 said:
AJ should explode this season i like the fact that he will be doubled up, and bradford is a real deep threat with DD running/catching out of the backfield, this yr we should have no problem in the 4th quarter, in fact i think we have potential to blow some teams out by 20-30 points.
Chance_C
All Pro
Alot of people don't like Gaffney for some reason. He is not benefited from our system for obvious reasons his first two years (and ours) in the league. It's simple really, what has been one of the knocks on Carr? Inability (albeit he usually didn't have the time so I don't consider it a huge deal) to check down to the third and fourth options. Exactly what option did Gaffney become? I'm not sure, but I'm sure Carr never had time to check down to him. Carr should definately have more time this year and I look for Gaff to have a nice year. He won't put up huge numbers, but with his hands and route running he will move the chains. People will then recognize his worth to this team. I think 45-60 receptions and 600-800 yards. IMO he will be a fine slot receiver for our team. This is his third year in the NFL, and it really should be his first. Thanks for bringing him up Fiddy.
Mistril48
Rookie
My recollection was that AJ mentioned after the last game that he was looking forward to working on his route running in the offseason. My comment was not based on my observations. I suspect most receivers, particularly rookies, feel they can improve their route running, with practice, whereas practice won't make J.J. Moses taller, or Gaffney noticeably faster.__V__ said:
I agree that he had an excellent rookie year and that statistically, it is easier for a rookie WR who only had 100 yards receiving to double his production than a rookie WR who put up close to 1,000 yards receiving. The point I was trying to make related to what I would call the Andy Katzenmoyer factor.__V__ said:
Katzenmoyer (sp?) start as a rookie at Ohio State and accordingly played a lot of downs of college football before being drafted by the Patriots (as I recall). Sometimes, this means that they player has already benefited all he can from coaching, and worse, has already lost a lot of 'tread off the tire.' Such a player won't improve throughout his pro career and may have it cut short by an accumulation of injuries.
I believe that the Texans have generally selected players with their early selections who have not started a lot of games in college (Pitts (started late), Gaffney (Jr.) and Johnson (Jr.) would be examples). I was merely pointing out that Johnson had missed a lot of coaching as a collegian, because he came out as a junior and as I recall, he missed spring practice to run track. As he catches up on the coaching he 'may show more improvement in 2004 than most sophomores' (although not all as some sophomores may go from 100 yards (say) in 2003 to 500 yards (say) in 2004. At least we have something to point to as a reason for him to improve.
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
El Tejano said:
Obviously he cannot improve percentage wise as much as someone like Rogers or Bryant be he absolutely can improve. 1200-1300 yards is very achievable and an improvement. Keep in consideration that if the offense performs a little better and gets just a league average # of plays, Carr will be throwing 50-60 more times. That alone would be good for 100-150 more yards. AJ has reportedly worked very hard on his route running in the off-season as well and while it was good before it is no supposed to be a strength (to go along with big, fast, aggressive). Plus consider the new enforcement on DB contact. AJ was never as subject to abuse as Harrison or Gaffney but less contact can only benefit him as well.
S
SESupergenius
Guest
You can't say it's all Carr, look at the number of receptions and yards Banks put on Gaffney when he was in:Chance_C said:
09/21 Kansas City 2-18
10/26 @Indianapolis 2-26
11/02 Carolina 3-30
11/16 @Buffalo 3-40
11/23 New England 1-13
11/30 Atlanta 2-28
That's not exactly burning it up. And in a couple of those games where Carr got taken out, Carr had already throw to Gaffney a couple of times.
Like I said, it's not all on Carr, it has to be both or something else. Gaffney had his best day with Carr tossing him the ball.
Fiddy
All Pro
Was the something else injuries and DD...SESupergenius said:
Jabar Gaffney
Pre-DD - 42.2 yards/game and 3.2 receptions/game
After-DD - 17.4 yards/game and 1.6 receptions/game
*most productive game, in the last 11 games of the season, came with Tony Banks at QB (@ Buf: 3 receptions, 40 yards)
*most productive game, in the last 11 games of the season, with David Carr at QB (Tenn: 1 reception, 14 yards or @ Cin 2 receptions, 8 yards, 1 TD)
stats from http://www.houstontexans.com/fan_zone/messageboards/showthread.php?t=909&page=1&pp=15
S
SESupergenius
Guest
If you shut down Gaffney you win the game is basically what it amounts to. we have a pretty good winning percentage when Gaffney can get a hold of 30 yards in a game.
I remember AJ looking super at training camp last year. I thought he really stood out from the rest.. extra spark, something special ...
Then came the games during the season where his hands were like butter and we were all ready to go out and find him some GOO....
Hope we see a more able and confident player this year, like the Hurricane star he was. He's got a year behind him now, so it's time to start showing us what he's all about.
Then came the games during the season where his hands were like butter and we were all ready to go out and find him some GOO....
Hope we see a more able and confident player this year, like the Hurricane star he was. He's got a year behind him now, so it's time to start showing us what he's all about.
If you get right down to it most of the skill players on offense should show an immense improvement. Obviously the better the offense gets our "star" receiver should get more balls thrown at him which will amount to more catches, yards, and touchdowns. IMO our offense is ready to breakout, and when that happens AJ and others should explode.
