Andre Davis Profile at Pro Football Reference

The Poor Man’s Hester

Andre Davis has made a name for himself as one of the fastest WRs in the league.  He came out of Virginia Tech with huge hype as the Browns took him in the 2^nd round of the 2002 NFL Draft but has largely disappointed. He’s bounced around the league but it looks like he finally has a suitable home in the rising Texans. 

This will be Davis’ 3^rd year with Houston, and he’s mostly been utilized as a 3^rd receiver and kick returner because of his blazing speed. But he isn’t just any old schmuck who runs his routes and is forgotten about. In 2007, he stepped in for the injured Andre Johnson, that’s Sir Andre Johnson to you, and over a seven game stretch he caught 23 passes for 447 yards and three touchdowns. Not too shabby for a high school soccer player.

But last year, Davis injured his finger, and although he played 12 games, he didn’t put up the numbers that the Texans were expecting. He returned three kicks for TDs in 2007, but none in 2008.  Also, his receiving production dropped off tremendously, as he only caught 13 passes for 213 yards and zero touchdowns – the primary reason for this was that ‘Dre missed no time.

Fantasy Outlook 2009

With last year’s numbers in mind, Davis is not a viable fantasy option for 2009. He’s never caught more than 40 passes in a season or had more than 600 receiving yards. His best seasons actually were his first two with the Browns, when he caught six and five TDs respectively, but since then he has failed to have a season with more than three scores. Davis is currently battling 3^rd year pro Jacoby Jones for the 3^rd receiver on the depth chart. Jones has only 18 catches in his first two seasons, so Davis has the edge in this one. However, Davis should only be drafted in the last round as a handcuff to ‘Dre given his success backing him up in ‘07.  Davis’ career 16.1 yards per catch average is an eye-opener.