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Andre vs Calvin: Superior Johnson?


patriotsheatyan

Andre vs Calvin: Superior Johnson?  

49 members have voted

  1. 1. If you could only pick one to make the HoF, then who?

    • Andre Johnson
      5
    • Calvin Johnson
      44


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It seems to me there was a noticeable difference in talent between Calvin Johnson, and Andre Johnson. Calvin may be the single most talented WR to ever play in the league, and had the production to back it up through the prime of his career. At Calvin's peak he was a top 5 WR ever to play in my opinion. Andre Johnson was more like a top 15/top 20 WR at his peak. Just look at the touchdown totals alone. In 9 seasons Calvin Johnson has more career touchdowns than Andre Johnson did in 14 seasons. Calvin also averaged more yards per game in his career. Andre Johnson also never had more than 10 touchdowns in a season. Calvin topped 10 touchdowns 4 times in his career. Calvin's peak was also noticeably better than Andre's.

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It's CJ, but all of this "not even close" talk is nonsense. CJ was the more explosive receiver, while AJ was more of a finesse. 

AJ's lower TD rate says more about Kubiac's play calling in the red zone and playing 4-5 years with two versatile backs in Slaton and Foster than it does about AJ's inability to find the end-zone. His avg target % in the red zone went from 29% down to 14% starting in 2010, which was coincidentally Arian Foster's breakout year, and dropping as low as 11% in 2011. 

You also have to factor in that while CJ may have had to endure a disastrous roller-coaster at QB (and a dysfunctional organization) for his first few years but at least he eventually had some stability with a solid young QB in Stafford that he could grow with. Which is alot more than what AJ could ever say in his entire career. AJ joined a brand new organization that was still settling in and looking for talent. During Andre's prime years('04-'13), he had a mentally and physically broken David Carr throwing to him for 48 games. Matt schaub for another 71. Sage Rosenfels for 12. And TJ Yates and Case Keenum for 9. 


Comparing both of their primes (CJ: '08-'15 / AJ: '04-'13) and all things considered, I see it like this: Margin is emphasized by the amount of > marks

  • Route Running = CJ>>AJ
  • Body control: CJ>AJ
  • Creating separation: AJ>CJ
  • Hands = AJ>CJ
  • Catch Radius = CJ>>>AJ
  • Red Zone = CJ>AJ
  • Big Play threat = CJ>>AJ
  • Short-Yardage situation = AJ>CJ 
  • 3rd Down = This is tough to decide once you start really breaking things down. Gun to my head, I'm taking a sure-handed AJ. 
  • YAC = Equal. CJ averaged more yards per season (413.6 to 394.8) but AJ averaged more per game ( 28.6 to 27.1). 
  • OPP Secondaries = CJ>>>AJ : CJ played against some tough competition in his division alone (Brown, Woodson, Harris, Tillman, Winfield, Collins, Williams, etc,)
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20 minutes ago, texans_uk said:

What? 

This is not a slight to AJ at all, as again he was the more finesse type receiver. In fact, I did consider AJ as he was quicker in/out of his breaks, hence why I say he was better at getting separation and in short-yardage situations. 

However, CJ had a wider range in his repertoire that covered more of the field. He was also the best route runner in the league for a longer period than AJ was as well.

(edit: although I just realized that I put two >> which was just a mistake on my part as it's closer than that implies.) 

Career AVG REC locations (AJ '04 not included)

AJ Short Mid Deep Bomb
2013 31% 45% 17% 8%
2012 31% 44% 13% 11%
2011 31% 39% 16% 14%
2010 39% 30% 20% 12%
2009 33% 39% 16% 12%
2008 32% 44% 19% 5%
2007 27% 45% 15% 13%
2006 44% 31% 14% 12%
2005 31% 38% 22% 10%
AVG 33% 39% 17% 11%
CJ Short Mid Deep Bomb
2015 25% 43% 18% 14%
2014 16% 53% 19% 12%
2013 15% 46% 30% 9%
2012 26% 36% 27% 11%
2011 25% 38% 18% 18%
2010 20% 46% 19% 14%
2009 24% 41% 17% 18%
2008 33% 35% 14% 19%
AVG 23% 42% 20% 14%
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2 hours ago, JustAnotherFan said:

During Andre's prime years('04-'13), he had a mentally and physically broken David Carr throwing to him for 48 games. Matt schaub for another 71. Sage Rosenfels for 12. And TJ Yates and Case Keenum for 9. 

Let's not pretend like Schaub was some scrub for all of those 71 games.  He was one of the better QBs in the league for a 5 year stretch, which is the same length CJ played with a good and healthy Stafford.

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