Andre Johnson is undoubtedly one of the best wide receivers in the game; the best in the opinions of many including, but not exclusively, Texans fans. Until last year he received very little national attention because of the struggles of the team and because of his low-key demeanor. Johnson will never be the outlandish diva WR you see on other teams, but he is beginning to step up and embrace his role as a leader for the offense as evidenced by his recent interview for the official site. Dre's talent combined with determination to win is a scary proposition for opposing corners.
One corner that Johnson hasn't necessarily enjoyed facing is the Raiders' Nnamdi Asomugha. Andre told Paul Kuharsky that the shutdown corner from Oakland has given him more trouble than any other defensive back in the NFL. Asomugha has gotten the better of Johnson in the last two meetings (2 receptions for 19 yards in 2008 and 1 reception for 9 yards in 2006) although Johnson had a great day against Nnamdi in their first encounter (6 receptions for 115 yards and a TD in 2004). Johnson will have a chance to even the score on October 4th when Zombie Al and the Raiders come to Houston.
Jeremy Rice wrote a phenomenal breakdown of the supposed new Texans defensive scheme, the under 4-3 front. Rice does a great job in just a few paragraphs describing why he believes that the current personnel are much better for this scheme than the read and react scheme of former defensive coordinator Richard Smith. While it is hard to argue with Rice's rationale, it seems that Rice is very optimistic in his views, especially concerning the secondary.