On Wednesday, the Texans Wire had a chance to speak to Houston Texans wide receiver and punt returner DeAndre Carter.
Among the topics discussed by the 26-year old former Philadelphia Eagle is the impact that having legendary wide receivers as his coaches in Houston has had on his game. This comes after the Texans had Wes Welker as an offensive and special teams assistant up until this offseason, and now have former Texans star receiver Andre Johnson on the coaching staff.
“Especially for me last year it was a treat for me to sit in the meeting room and pick Wes’ brain, or out on the practice field, and ask Wes how he’d run certain routes or how he would attack certain coverages,” admitted Carter.
“Because, for a large part he kind of paved the way for a lot of undersized slot guys like myself, and with him playing in a similar system when he was playing, it helps me out a lot because he’s got a lot of knowledge about that position as well as in the scheme and being able to set different defenders up different ways depending on what routes you’re running that was definitely a big help for me,” said Carter.
Welker took up his first coaching role back in 2017 following a storied NFL career which involved him forever altering the slot receiver and racking up five Pro Bowl invites. Somewhat filling his place as the resident former receiver on the staff is Johnson. Himself a seven-time Pro Bowler, Johnson is a household name in the city of Houston and has taken up the official title of assistant to the head coach and general manager.
However, he has also been spotted helping out on the field with the wide receivers, and Carter has already been paying close attention to what he has to teach.
“And then even this year with Andre Johnson helping out, he’s a bigger body receiver so he’s been kind of helping me on how to use my body to get open instead of always relying on my speed and quickness,” said Carter.
The Texans will be hoping that Johnson can prove to be as good a coach as he was a player, and help a relatively young receiver corps find their feet in the NFL this year.
