Texans Wire Exclusive: Andre Johnson discusses Nico Collins and challenges for elite NFL receivers

Houston Texans Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Johnson struggled to find the right words on expectations once a player has established themselves as an elite NFL wide receiver.

“It’s different, man when you’re on that level of being considered the best in the league,” Johnson said in an exclusive interview with Texans Wire. “I don’t really know how to put in the words, but there’s a point where your approach has to be so different because you know that teams are scheming to keep you away from the football.”

Johnson had seven 1000-yard campaigns during his 14-year NFL career. By the end of his sophomore season, he became one of the more established targets, including leading the league in both 2008 and 2009.

If anyone would know of Nico Collins’ growth, it’s Johnson. Collins, the first star of the Nick Caserio era has burst onto the scene, leading the NFL in receiving through four games.

In two years, Collins has transformed into a household name. He served as C.J. Stroud’s top target while helping Houston end a four-year playoff drought.

Johnson had great insight as to what that means for a receiver of that caliber.

“I think it made me watch a lot of film, it made me just break things down more, be more detailed about things. It was little things where I would see on film and I would tell (Matt) Schaub like, hey, if they play this and I got this route, I’m running this route like this.'” Johnson said of working to communicate with his quarterback. “So it makes you become more detailed with the things that you’re doing.

“I would probably say that’s the difference of, you know, once you get to that level of being a top guy.”

A desire to learn that the finite details drove Johnson to further limits.

“The quarterbacks will meet before we would have our team meeting every morning. They would always meet and it got to the point to where I was like, ‘You know what? Maybe I need to start going to these meetings,'” Johnson said. “I would just sit in the in the in the meeting room. I wouldn’t really say anything and Kyle Shanahan was our offensive coordinator at the time and he would sit there and he would go over stuff with them.

“I would just sit back and I would just watch it. It became a point to where we were so much on the same page, to where I could come back and tell because Schaub used to always tell me why he didn’t throw me the ball, so we got to a point to where I’d come back to him and be like ‘Ohh I know why you didn’t throw it to me” because of this, that and another.’ We basically had got to the point where we were seeing the same things on the field.”

It was a testament to Johnson’s dedication to finding success on and off the field while building a relationship with Schaub. Coincidentally, the league has seen a similar connection between Collins and the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Through four games, Stroud and Collins lead the NFL in ‘Expected Points Added’ between any quarterback and receiving combination in football this season per NFL Next Gen Stats.

Johnson can’t help but love the improvement he’s seen from the budding star.

“I got a chance when Nico first got here with the Texans, (former offensive coordinator) Pep Hamilton came up to me and was like, ‘Hey Dre, I need you to talk to this guy,’ he was like ‘This guy got it. Like he has what it takes,’” Johnson said of his first interaction with Collins. “I pulled him to the side, talked to him and, you know, I didn’t know him, so I pulled to the side, just talked to him and kinda picked his brain a little bit. We would do a few drills sometimes after practice, little thing I asked him that he felt like he needed to work on.”

Collins’ work ethic with Johnson and away from the complex reached its peak over the last 14 months. In 2023, he posted career-highs in receiving yards (1,297) and touchdowns (eight). Entering October, his 489 yards lead the league by a wide margin.

Seeing Collins’ growth made Johnson reminiscence of his time in the league. It’s as if he’s watching a clone.

“It’s so exciting to watch him play. He reminds me, the way he plays the game, he reminds me of me,” Johnson said. “To see the physicality that he plays with, it makes you wanna watch, it makes me wanna watch him play all the time. So even him shoving a guy like, I’m not condoning violence, but I love it like I love it.”

Whether it’s the dominance on the football field or the feistiness to hit a defensive back who crosses a boundary, Collins has Johnson and Texans fans alike feeling like they have another Canton-bound caliber talent on their hands.