Andre Davis On His Way Out?

After Andre Johnson’s knee injury in week 2 of the 2007 season, newly signed Texan Andre Davis was called into action to help replace play making void that was left by Johnson. His impact was felt almost immediately, making several big catches down the field against opponents that season. In the five weeks following Johnson’s injury, Davis caught 20 passes for 384 yards, an average of 19.2 yards per catch with 3 touchdowns. With Jacoby Jones at the time being as raw as he was, Davis was essentially the only active speedy receiving threat that was active on the team. After the return of Johnson in week 11 against New Orleans, David quickly throttled back, only receiving 10 catches over the remaining 7 games. But that was just him as a receiver. Davis had a kick return for a touchdown against the Buccaneers and two against the Jaguars, also making him only the 7th man in NFL history to return back to back kickoff returns for touchdowns.

Following his success in 2007, Davis came into 2008 as rising fan favorite. But his season high in receptions was 3, all the way up at week 17. With only 13 receptions for 213 yards in ’08, it was considered a significant step back. It wasn’t only receiving, but Davis only averaged 23.1 yards per kick return after averaging 30.3 per return in ’07. That includes no touchdowns for the entire season. There are a few reasons that contributed to this drawback, though. One was that without an injured Johnson, Davis saw the field far less. Another one is with the emergence of David Anderson as a solid alternate receiver, costing Davis additional catches. Last, Davis suffered a few injuries in 2008, including a finger injury which kept him out for four weeks.

And then last season, Andre Davis saw his least amount of action with the team. With only 6 catches for 59 yards and no touchdowns in 14 games, it is an indication that Davis is now simply a veteran receiver that spends most of his time telling stories on the bench. With yet another injury which caused him to miss time early in the season, the Texans tended to favor other receivers such as Jacoby Jones and David Anderson for the remainder of the season. In more detail, Davis had 3 catches in week 1, with only another 3 for the remainder of 2009.

Here and Now, we’re looking at Andre Davis, and it appears that his decline will cost him his job as a player for the Texans. After turning 31 a few weeks ago, Davis is surly on the decline physically. With the additions of rookies Trindon Holliday and Dorin Dickerson, Davis’ outlook looks bleak. Even if he were to make the team, he would likely have his kick return duty stripped in favor of either Jacoby Jones or Trindon Holliday. This is exactly why I believe that Davis will be on his way out before the start of the regular season, because the Texans will not be keeping an aging receiver on the roster that only had six receptions the year before and likely won’t be playing on special teams as well.