Texans WR Andre Johnson released

[themunn]

Back to Johnson though. We had a discussion recently about the virtues of pursuing Vincent Jackson. A move I am very much against. Jackson is a player who is frankly not terrificly skilled at the business of catching footballs. He sports a very low catch to target ratio. I compared him to Luke Willson of 2014. Which should be damning as I think we all considered his pass catching to be an area of concern even at the TE position. The fact he fared better than Jackson who is supposed to be a WR should raise everyone's Houshmandzadeh sense. Even when playing with Rivers in his prime, his catch rates were in the mid 50s.

And yet he put up 6 years of 1000 yard seasons with usually around 7-8 TDs. With a 6'5 receiver you can put the ball in places where either he can catch it or nobody can catch it - they're high passes to the outside that are difficult to get to, but if you get to them they go for big gains. Jackson was targetted 142 times last year, made 70 catches - but crucially, only 4 were drops, just 2.8%. That's a lower drop rate than every Seattle receiver in 2014 except Richardson (0 drops), and jammed right in between the drop rates of Jordy Nelson and Antonio Brown.
He's had some years where he's been above average and several below (as most receivers do), but his catch rate has very little to do with his ability to catch. Calvin Johnson has one of the lowest catch rates in the league among receivers with more than 50 receptions year in year out. Who would argue he's not among the best in the league?

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

Im torn on this honestly. We need the big body WR no doubt, but I would like to see someone younger to develop chemistry with Russ over a few years and not a one or two year player and the tail end of his career.

These aren't mutually exclusive. If you draft a project, he's going to be a cheap rookie contract. We already have a roster slot committed to that with Matthews. Whether we continue to develop him specifically, or draft a development prospect -- it wouldn't interfere with taking a player on the tail end who can contribute in 2015/16. AJ would be competing directly with Kearse's roster spot.

Assume:

FL/Slot: Baldwin
FL/Slot: Richardson
SE: Kearse
Project: Matthews
ST: Lockette
ST: Walters

The first two are kind of set. Although Richardson's spot is open at least for the first 7 weeks. Probably all season.

The last 4 positions could all be up for grabs. AJ more or less figures to compete for Kearse's spot. I think it's safe to assume that there is some uncertainty with Lockette's spot. He's a talented gunner, but he also had a fair number of boneheaded plays that will hurt him in terms of grading his 2014 performance. Walters is a position needing upgrading. It's probably one of the lower graded positions on this roster.

Seattle could very easily add AJ and two additional draftees in this corps even with Richardson healthy. Obviously as the season progressed, we leaned on Lockette/Matthews and even Walters for significant snap counts. Assuming Richardson's health means not playing this year, we likely need a quality day 1 starter at minimum. And anywhere between one and three additional prospects to compete with the bottom 3 spots.

I'm not sure where Norwood fits in here. He's not a big project receiver. Doesn't have similar ST value. Maybe he assumes Richardson's temporary FL need. Perhaps he's a replacement for Kearse after a year's worth of development. I would almost expect two of our top 3 selections to be WR. With one or both of them able to take over PR/ST duties.

 

[titan3131]

im hoping for Nelson Aghohor and darren waller in the draft and andre to put kearse in his place @ 2nd string.

 

[pmedic920]

I covet him for the simple fact that he whooped the shit out of Cortland Innegan.

Quoted for truth
:{)

 

[BadgerVid]

6'3", 235, fast, great hands, a beast fighting for the ball...

Nah, why would we want that...?

:twocents:

 

[Anonymous]

This just in...

No less than 3 of my Texans-coddling clients have texted me saying they'll follow Johnson to the Seahawks. Said they'd be first in line for a jersey they love his play so much. I'm like, "What about Watt?" they're saying Andre is a better guy off the field than on and deserves a chance for late post-season play.

One dude said he's so in love with watching him play that he'd root for Dallas if he went there.

He then spit up a little...

 

[Anonymous]

I covet him for the simple fact that he whooped the shit out of Cortland Innegan.

Insn't that "Cortland Outtegen"?

 

[mistaowen]

This just in...

No less than 3 of my Texans-coddling clients have texted me saying they'll follow Johnson to the Seahawks. Said they'd be first in line for a jersey they love his play so much. I'm like, "What about Watt?" they're saying Andre is a better guy off the field than on and deserves a chance for late post-season play.

One dude said he's so in love with watching him play that he'd root for Dallas if he went there.

He then spit up a little...

Yeah, Johnson's yearly spending spree he lets kids go on at Christmas is amazing. Drops thousands of dollars for under privileged youth. Just a class guy all around. Would love him to come for a few years while he still has some tank left in the gas. Immediately becomes Russell's safety outlet on big plays. His 'decline' if you want to call it that last year was more on QB play than anything else.

 

[Anonymous]

... His 'decline' if you want to call it that last year was more on QB play than anything else.

That's the narrative with these guys.

I remember being at the game down here a few years ago when Johnson flew down the sideline and left our D-backfield in the dust on his way to six.

[youtube]WN6rGs72ckA[/youtube]

 

[Mojambo]

It's such a perfect fit here in Seattle. I really wanted Larry Fitzgerald, but I think Johnson might even be a better fit.

Make it happen.

 

[Largent80]

Grab Johnson....not literally, but...oh never mind.

[youtube]WOZYoa_pod0[/youtube]

 

[Scottemojo]

I covet him for the simple fact that he whooped the shit out of Cortland Innegan.

Insn't that "Cortland Outtegen"?

You were supposede to set me up for a beat the F out of him joke, but once a Mod, always a Mod.

 

[niveky]

Im torn on this honestly. We need the big body WR no doubt, but I would like to see someone younger to develop chemistry with Russ over a few years and not a one or two year player and the tail end of his career.

If they got AJ he would probably help the development of Chris Matthews tremendously

 

[Jazzhawk]

Has Johnson really lost a step, or has he just had really crappy QB's throwing to him the last few years?? I personally think it's more of the latter than the former.

 

[HawkFan72]

Has Johnson really lost a step, or has he just had really crappy QB's throwing to him the last few years?? I personally think it's more of the latter than the former.

Why can't it be both? The guy is in his mid 30s. He's not going to be playing at the same level he was when he was 28.

His QBs have been really bad, but he's had some bad QBs throughout his whole career.

 

[Sac]

I covet him for the simple fact that he whooped the shit out of Cortland Innegan.

Insn't that "Cortland Outtegen"?

You were supposede to set me up for a beat the F out of him joke, but once a Mod, always a Mod.

Ahem....

You mean Finnegan.

 

[CurryStopstheRuns]

... His 'decline' if you want to call it that last year was more on QB play than anything else.

That's the narrative with these guys.

I remember being at the game down here a few years ago when Johnson flew down the sideline and left our D-backfield in the dust on his way to six.

[youtube]WN6rGs72ckA[/youtube]

A few years ago? That is Patrick Kerney at DE, bro. So, he burnt The secondary pre-Pete Carroll defense and while he was still in his prime? Truant and Babineaux are not happy that you dug this video back up.

 

[Anonymous]

They know where to find me.

As I watch that clip, you can see that Babs pulled up with the realization. ET doesn't pull up, and might have bumped him out of bounds at the 5.

 

[hawksurething]

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-top100-20 ... y-Mercilus

NFL players voted him #21 out of the TOP 100 of 2014 !

He is still fast & big great routes,can block and amazing hands. He is a good locker room guy too. I have him 2nd to the complete Marshall at 6'5 & above Vjackson & Dez. since Dez has family drama so much.

Here is Brandon Marshall 2014. So you could argue AJ is even better than marshall. The players rank AJ that much higher.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0QcZ5kXQFJM

Yall who say he is not still amazing... Watch video of this season.

Go get a combination of BOTH AJ now before he is gone, then wheel & deal the cap to later get one of these guys...Marshall,Vjackson,Torry,Maclin,Washington,Streeter,Andre Holmes.

Those guys on the outside going deep & red zone,plus Baldwin in the slot...what defense could stop that ???

 

[BadgerVid]

As much as I like Lynch, I would be tempted to pull the raise offer, sign AJ to a 1 or 2 yr deal, trade up in the draft to grab Gordon or Gurley and let Marshawn come back and play out his contract or retire...

AJ is precisely what the 'Hawks need to move ahead IMO.

Just my opinion...your mileage may vary.