The Houston Texans will never learn.  Until they find a WR to patrol the other side of the football field that the opponent must respect….Andre Johnson will continue to get double and triple teamed!   Andre Johnson is still a fantastic WR but he would be so much more with just a little bit of help.  He has it all as he is a big target with soft hands and good speed.  He played in 16 games (all starts) last season for the Texans and he caught 103 passes for 1,147 yards (11.1 avg) with 5 TD grabs and he also carried the football 3 times for 14 yards (4.7 ypc).  Look for similar type numbers from Johnson unless rookie Jacoby Jones is ready to handle the WR job on the other side.  Johnson has now played in 61 games (all starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 311 passes for 3,953 yards (12.7 avg) with 17 TD grabs and he also has carried the football 18 times for 26 yards (1.4 ypc).

Kevin Walter was penciled in at the start of Training Camp as the starter opposite of Johnson but he’s no more than a #3 or #4 WR.  Walter has good hands but he has no speed and that’s why he shouldn’t start.  He played in 16 games (2 starts) last season for the Texans and he caught 17 passes for 160 yards (9.4 avg) with 0 TD catches and he also carried the ball 1 time for 3 yards.   Walter has now played in 59 NFL games (4 starts) in his career and he has caught 47 passes for 456 yards (9.7 avg) with 1 TD grab and he has carried the ball 1 time for 3 yards.

The Texans need Jacoby Jones to win the starting job opposite of Andre Johnson.  He has the speed and size to get the respect of the defense as long as he can handle the huge jump in competition as he played at baby Lane College.  He will be the player to watch in the pre-season for the Texans.

Veteran Keenan McCardell reminds me a lot of Eric Moulds who was brought in last season because he was once a really good WR but now he’s just trying to hang on.  With that being said I could still see him possibly beating out Kevin Walter and Jacoby Jones for a starting job.  McCardell played in 14 games (11 starts) last year for the Chargers and he caught 36 passes for 437 yards (12.1 avg) with 0 TD grabs and he also carried the football 1 time for 8 yards.  McCardell would be best used as the #3 WR for the Texans providing someone else steps up for them.  He has now played in 199 games (167 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 861 passes for 11,117 yards (12.9 avg) with 62 TD grabs and he also has carried the ball 5 times for 20 yards (4.0 ypc).

Jerome Mathis will have a fight on his hands to keep his job as kickoff returner/#5 WR because the Texans have brought in Andre Davis and Bethel Johnson to challenge him for his job.  Mathis played in 2 games (0 starts) last season and he returned 7 kickoffs for 192 yards (27.4 avg).  He’s an electric return man but he has never played up to his ability on offense.  He has played in 14 NFL games (0 starts) and he has caught 5 passes for 65 yards (13.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He also has returned 61 kickoffs for 1,734 yards (28.4 avg) with 2 TD returns and he also has returned 12 punts for 68 yards (5.7 avg).

Bethel Johnson can do a little bit of everything but his bread and butter is returning kickoffs.  He played in 11 games (2 starts) last season with the Vikings and he caught 9 passes for 156 yards (17.3 avg) and he also carried the ball 4 times for 8 yards (2.0 ypc).  Johnson did a good job of returning kickoffs last season as he returned 45 for 1,054 yards (23.4 avg).  Johnson has had more success as a WR than Mathis but not as much as Davis so this will be a very interesting battle in Camp.   Johnson has now played in 50 games (9 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 39 passes for 606 yards (15.5 avg) with 4 TD grabs and he has carried the football 7 times for 4 yards (0.6 ypc).  Johnson has returned 147 kickoffs in his career for 3,611 yards (24.6 avg) with 2 TD returns and he also has returned 6 punts for 21 yards (3.5 avg).

Andre Davis is probably a better all-around football player than either Mathis or Johnson because he also has been a good WR in his career.  He didn’t get to do too much last season for the Bills despite played in all 16 games (1 start) as he only caught 2 passes for 13 yards (6.5 avg) and he returned 6 kickoffs for 99 yards (16.5 avg).  Davis has had a decent NFL career despite his off season in 2006.   He has played in 64 games (24 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 104 passes for 1,615 yards (15.5 avg) with 14 TD grabs and he also has carried the football 9 times for 32 yards (3.6 ypc).  Davis has also returned 97 kickoffs in his career for 2,078 yards (21.4 avg) with 1 TD return and he also has returned 8 punts for 40 yards (5.0 avg).