RADIO
Pierre Camus delivers a final farewell to the fantasy football career of star wide receiver (WR) Andre Johnson, who retired during the 2016 NFL season.
We are here to remember the career of a future Hall of Fame receiver, Mr. Andre Lamont Johnson. He was a prolific receiver in his day, amassing 1,062 receptions, 14,125 yards and 70 touchdowns over a 14-year career.
While he retired as the all-time leading receiver in Houston Texans history, he meant just as much to us in the fantasy football world. Despite never reaching the 10-TD plateau in a single season, Johnson found a way to deliver value consistently, making him a perennial WR1.
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It was apparent Andre Johnson would have a bright future from his early days in Miami. Coming out of Miami Senior High, he stayed in town to sign with the powerhouse Miami Hurricanes. He played sparingly as a freshman, but emerged to catch 10 TD as a sophomore. His shining moment came in the biggest of games - the Rose Bowl against Nebraska for the National Championship. Johnson went off for 199 yards and two TD that day, standing out as an integral part of one of the best college football teams of all time, the 2001 Hurricanes. In his junior year, he caught 52 balls for 1,092 yards and nine TD before entering the draft early. The Texans selected him third overall, immediately heaping great expectations on the young receiver.
At 6'3", 220 lb, Johnson used his long stride and impressive wingspan to outreach defensive backs for the football. He fell just 24 yards shy of reaching 1,000 in his rookie year in Houston. He followed it up with 1,142 yards and six TD in his second season, immediately establishing himself as an elite WR. Johnson would go on to post five seasons of 100+ receptions and seven seasons of 1,000+ yards. In 2008-2009, Johnson led the league in receiving yardage each year with 1,575 and 1,569 respectively.
From a consistency standpoint, Johnson was as reliable as you can get. Johnson led the NFL in receiving yards per game in 2007, 2009, and 2010. In five separate seasons, he averaged over 90 Y/G. Despite his physical style of play and willingness to take a hit across the middle of the field, he was mostly resistant to injury. He played a full 16-game season on eight occasions, only once missing more than eight games (half a season).
If there was one drawback to drafting Johnson in non-PPR leagues, it was his lack of touchdowns. Although he reached the end zone 70 times in his career, he never broke the double-digit mark in a season. His most prolific scoring phase came between 2007-2010 when he scored 8-9 touchdowns each season in that four-year stretch. Unfortunately, he also scored less than five TD in six different seasons, not including 2016 when he retired mid-season. He usually made up for the lack of scoring with lofty receiving totals, however, finishing as a top-10 fantasy receiver in half of his NFL seasons.
Unlike many star receivers these days, Johnson never earned a flashy nickname, nor did he have a signature dance move. He opted to simply toss the ball into the stands as a souvenir after crossing the goal line. Johnson's retirement was quiet too, as it came abruptly and unceremoniously in the middle of the year. He elected to let Tennessee's young receiving corps develop and step into the limelight, not wanting to take valuable playing time from them.
Johnson ends his career 11th on the all-time list for receiving yards in the NFL, just behind fellow Hurricane Reggie Wayne. His numbers are a testament to his immense talent and dedication to the game. He never played with a Hall of Fame quarterback, catching most of his passes from Matt Schaub, followed by #1 pick and bust, David Carr. Age ultimately caught up to him, but Johnson should be recognized for the service he gave the NFL and fantasy football players alike throughout the 2000s. For that reason, we bid a great football career farewell.
