Is It Time for the Indianapolis Colts to Give Up on Andre Johnson?

Through three weeks of the regular season, it's safe to say that Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Andre Johnson has been a colossal failure as a free-agent signing. 

The seven-time Pro Bowler was signed to a three-year, $21 million contract back in March, a deal signed so that Johnson could come in to Indianapolis and be a solid No. 2 receiver for Andrew Luck. Johnson's skill set as a strong, consistent possession receiver was supposed to be a perfect complement to the speed the rest of the wide receiver corps possessed, with T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief stretching the field consistently. 

When the Colts added speedster receiver Phillip Dorsett in the first round of the draft, Johnson's emphasized role made even more sense. The Colts could look to stretch the field and confuse defenses by moving their downfield threats around, while Johnson took advantage of space and lesser matchups underneath. 

But through three weeks, Johnson hasn't fulfilled that promise at all, which is a big part in the Colts' complete offensive disappointment. 

Johnson has just seven receptions for 51 yards in three games, and his targets have decreased in every contest, going from 10 in Week 1, to seven in Week 2 and just one in Week 3. The veteran was especially bad in Week 3, failing to separate from physical man coverage and getting completely shut out of the game plan. 

This model isn't sustainable for Indianapolis, not if Johnson is going to be the team's No. 2, or even No. 3 receiver. The team either has to find a way to get him involved or bench him altogether. 

So which is it? Are there ways the Colts can get the future Hall of Famer involved without sabotaging the offense, or is Andre Johnson, as we know him, done? 

To answer that question, we go to the Colts' All-22 footage. 

To start, I charted each of Andre Johnson's routes over the last three weeks, to give us a better picture of what he's being asked to do, and where he's succeeding. Not included were screen passes or other quick, packaged plays to other receivers. 

Route	Average Depth	Number of Plays	Open	Open %
Flat	4.4 yds	10	8	80%
Dig	9.13 yds	8	6	75%
Slant/Spot	5.75 yds	9	5	56%
Crosser	4.33 yds	6	2	33%
9/Seam	15 yds	10	1	10%
Out	11.2 yds	10	1	10%
Post	14.3 yds	10	0	0%
Deep Cross/Drive	18.75 yds	4	0	0%
Hook	10 yds	3	0	0%
Whip	3.33 yds	3	0	0%
Corner	15 yds	2	0	0%
Total	10.15 yds	75	23	30.7%

The first thing to note is that Johnson was, overall, struggling tremendously to get open, getting open less than one-third of the time. Against man coverage, Johnson only got open about 26.5 percent of the time. He was especially ineffective on routes that brought him down the field without any sharp cuts (deep crossers, nine routes, skinny posts, etc.).

Johnson simply doesn't have the explosion and speed to win over long distances any more. 

Where he can still win is with his route running on quick passes. 

While just over a 55 percent success rate on quick slants and spot routes is not ideal, it's significantly better than his complete goose-egg on most longer routes, and he was fairly successful on dig routes as well. But when working toward the sideline, Johnson was often swallowed up by defenders. The lone exception was flat routes, which isn't an indication of route success as much as it is a schematic advantage. 

It is worth noting that Donte Moncrief has been the target of multiple quick flat routes when defenders are playing 10 yards or more off the line of scrimmage. Don't be surprised to see Johnson see a few of those targets as the season goes on. 

But overall, Johnson's most productive area of the field is the middle. Unfortunately this hasn't been a big part of the game plan. Johnson has only been targeted on five slants or digs so far this season, although his biggest catches have been in this role. 

When going over the middle in quick cuts, Johnson can establish a bit of a rhythm with Andrew Luck, beating defenders with timing or with his physical strength to get a few short completions. He can still be a reliable player against the zone too, but it will take some getting used to for Luck and he to get on the same page. 

Of course, limiting Johnson's role simply to slants and digs won't keep defenses on their toes, and the Colts will certainly want to get him involved on some back-shoulder throws and red-zone packages as well. But, honestly, these are the limitations of how Johnson can be a productive player for Indianapolis at this point in his career. 

That means his percentage of snaps will likely need to decrease, giving the more explosive, if physically smaller, rookie wide receiver Phillip Dorsett a few more looks. Dorsett has been one of the most efficient receivers in the league thus far (in an admittedly smaller sample size), while Johnson has been one of the least efficient. 

Player	Rank (out of 76)	Team	Routes	Yards	YPRR
Antonio Brown	1	PIT	101	436	4.32
Julio Jones	2	ATL	112	440	3.93
Larry Fitzgerald	3	ARZ	90	333	3.70
A.J. Green	4	CIN	94	335	3.56
Phillip Dorsett	5	IND	34	113	3.32
Tavon Austin	73	STL	79	42	0.53
Andre Johnson	74	IND	101	51	0.50
Lance Moore	75	DET	106	46	0.43
Nelson Agholor	75	PHI	103	36	0.35

Dorsett still has some refining to do, however, especially in regards to basic communication and chemistry with Luck. The two have had some wildly mishandled connections through three weeks, although their 35-yard touchdown connection on 3rd-and-20 on Sunday was a game-changer. 

Johnson will have to get on the field at times, and as an effective blocker will likely be a favorite of Pep Hamilton's in one and two-receiver sets, along with Donte Moncrief. 

But, really, the Colts have to realize where their most effective weapons are. As sad as it may be, Johnson isn't one of them, at least not right now. Hilton and Moncrief are the two best receivers on the roster, and Johnson's distant third isn't exactly on solid ground.

They don't have to give up on him just yet, but if the Colts aren't going to put him in more effective positions to succeed, there's no reason for him to be on the field.