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Andre Johnson left his mark on the Houston Texans with 13,597 career receiving yards. It is a mark that still stands almost six seasons after his last game with the AFC South club.
The record is one that may not be broken for a long time. The closest to setting a new standard was DeAndre Hopkins with 8,602 yards. However, those numbers are suspended as the three-time All-Pro receiver is now in the NFC West with the Arizona Cardinals.
Coming in at third place on the all-time receiving yards list is tight end Owen Daniels with 4,617. The closest active player is receiver Will Fuller with 2,231.
In order to break a record like Johnson’s, it takes durability and longevity. Aside from 2007 and 2011, two injury-plagued seasons for Johnson that limited him to nine and seven games respectively, the two-time All-Pro played at least 13 games a season from 2003-14.
The third element is production. Not only was Johnson playing in upwards of 13 games a year over 12 seasons, but he had seven seasons of at least 900 yards. Johnson also led the NFL in receiving yards twice in that span, eclipsing the 1,500-yard mark in each season.
The production also has to be independent of what is happening under center. Johnson played with everything from David Carr to Matt Schaub. It didn’t matter; Johnson still caught passes and made plays.
Hopkins missed a total of two games in his seven-season Texans tenure, both meaningless Week 17 games in 2017 and 2019. Furthermore, Hopkins only had two seasons with less than 1,000 yards receiving, yet he also had two years with at least 1,500 yards receiving. Like Johnson before him, Hopkins wasn’t working with starting quality quarterbacks until Deshaun Watson came along in 2017.
Even in today’s pass-oriented NFL, it will take close to a decade for a receiver to reach that mark. A good example would be Torry Holt. The seven-time Pro Bowler missed only three games his whole 11-season career, and he stacked eight straight seasons with at least 1,000 yards. It would take that degree of durability, longevity, and production for a Texans receiver to break Johnson’s record.
No wonder they made Johnson the inaugural member of the Texans Ring of Honor.
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