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Leading up to the 2015 NFL Season, Rotoballer's fantasy football expert Frankie Soler will be looking at the offseason's biggest winners and losers. In the first installment of the Winner's series, we take a look at the Indianapolis Colts' pickup of former Houston Texan's wide receiver Andre Johnson.
Previously Frankie looked at off-season losers Drew Brees and Julius Thomas
Andre Johnson + Andrew Luck = Big Things for 2015
Here’s something you don’t have to be a fantasy, NFL, or any other kind of football expert to recognize: Andrew Luck is the best quarterback Andre Johnson has ever played with. In fact, it’s not even close. Going from the recent quarterback carousel on the Houston Texans (which included Ryan Mallett, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tom Savage) to emerging superstar Andrew Luck is a monster upgrade for Andre Johnson. If you’re wondering who the best QB Johnson played with in Houston was, the answer is Matt Schaub. Schaub’s best statistical season came in 2009 where he completed 67.9% of his passes for 4,770 yards and 29 touchdowns. Not without coincidence, that happened to be one of Andre Johnson’s bests seasons as well. That was the year Johnson finished with 1,569 yards and the highest touchdown total of his career with nine. When Andre Johnson had above average production out of his quarterback in Houston, his fantasy production was elite.
The main argument being used against Andre Johnson's move from Houston to Indianapolis comes down to the idea that he’ll be the number two receiver behind T.Y. Hilton. While it is true that Hilton has been Andrew Luck’s “top” receiver, the idea of being a number one versus a number two is a myth in this instance. Over the course of the 2014 season, DeAndre Hopkins led the Houston Texans in both receiving yards and touchdowns while Andre Johnson led in receptions. That parallel will likely exist in Indianapolis, as the expectation is that T.Y. Hilton will be stretching the field as a receiver while Andre Johnson becomes the reliable possession receiver. In short, Andre Johnson won’t need to worry about being the “number two guy” because his skill-set doesn’t conflict with that of T.Y. Hilton just like it didn’t with DeAndre Hopkins last year. They’re different kinds of players with different roles in the offense.
The most important thing to remember during Andre Johnson's transition is that Andrew Luck is the most competent QB Johnson’s ever had. Remember those Matt Schaub stats I threw at you a minute ago? Well, Luck threw for 4,761 yards and 40 touchdowns just last year, his 3rd year in the league. Luck will have no problem continuing to spread the ball around and Andre Johnson will be one of the many beneficiaries of that. If anything, he’s a more valuable PPR asset than he is in standard scoring due to his style of play compared to that of Hilton. After this offseason, I would draft Andre Johnson in the late fourth/early fifth round ahead of guys like Keenan Allen and Mike Wallace and be perfectly satisfied with Johnson as my WR2 in any league, regardless of size.
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