He was on a very likely HOF trajectory until the great dumpster fire of 2013. Salary and coaching change did him in.
it's going to be a tough HOF entrance. I think he's certainly a HOF level talent but the numbers aren't there to make it a slam dunk. He really needed a couple extra thousand yards to make a rock solid case.
What will really hurt him is that Larry Fitzgerald is still out there kicking ass and will likely pass him in yards this season and he absolutely dwarfs him in TD receptions. That'll just be yet another WR ahead of him when it comes time for HOF voting.
If he cared about his own legacy he could have played for a serious contender at a minimum salary late in his career. He didn't care so it's hard for me to care about his legacy or HOF chances. That said I hope he makes it but it's not a slam dunk.
Well he tried, but it was more important to him to play for Houston's rivals than it was to do anything else. Honestly his HOF chances would have been much better if he'd have just stayed here and taken the lesser role. They'd have blamed any of his decline on the QB's, instead he was still terrible with Andrew Luck and that kills his QB excuse.
He was really good in 2013 (109/1,407). Did you mean 2014? Still productive (85/936) - but he needed... 2-4 more years of "still productive" and he was very obviously finished. I just don't think he's viewed as uber-elite by the national writers; quiet guy on anonymously bad teams... Short of being top 5 across the board in all-time numbers (which he was never going to be with TDs), I always thought he was going to struggle to get in. Now, I think he's moved closer to long shot than sure thing.
Well he tried going to a contender last year. Colts had just went to afc title game and he finally got to play with a great qb (Luck) too bad for dre he was washed up when it finally happened.
It's less that he lost his role so much as they weren't going to keep force feeding him targets just to keep his numbers up. He had regressed to the point where he was a 3rd WR but they kept throwing at him 180 times a year to keep the numbers up. BOB wasn't going to do that. He played like a 3rd WR and he wanted to use him as a 3rd WR.
Ah; gotcha. I disagree; I think Andre was rapidly declining. Even during a still productive '14, all we knew he wasn't the same player and that Hopkins - drafted by Kubiak - was the better receiver. The passing of the torch was, by 2014, inevitable.
I think he's clearly behind Moss, Owens and Megatron, in terms of retired players. Likely behind Wayne, too (who has a much higher profile). Heck, he's arguably behind Isaac Bruce, too; in fact, he essentially *IS* Isaac Bruce: Bruce: 1,024 rec.; 15,208 yds; 14.9 avg; 91 TDs Andre: 1,062 rec.; 14,185 yds; 13.4 avg; 70 TDs Except, Bruce, like Torry Holt (who could conceivably rank ahead of him, as well), was very good on two Super Bowl teams. And while I think Andre is better, I guarantee you there are plenty of writers who would put Hines Ward in ahead of him (high-profile, productive player on a storied franchise). In terms of peers still playing, he's clearly behind Fitzgerald. Steve Smith, too, I think. Is Welker active? Well, I think he's behind him, as well. Possibly Marshall if he remains productive. And he's closer to Boldin than you realize. And in five years, guys like Julio, Brown and Green are going to leaving him in the dust. I think JJ will get in before Andre Johnson.
This is good for the Titans because what I saw them doing was insert Andre near the goal line, and then throw the slant EVERY single time. It looked like Mariota was obligated to throw to Andre Johnson and it only worked like 30% of the time. This will help open up some options even if they are all TE's.
Yes in a sense, but it's not so much that BOB changed his role just to change it as it is BOB realized that he wasn't good enough for that role anymore....they just kept him in it anyway. He of course resented BOB for breaking the news to him that he was done as a #1 WR and that's why he threw the fit he did and that's why he went to the Colts and Titans afterwards.....but he only hurt himself by doing so.
