Kevin Walter

White Shogun

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Should be noted that of the three - Curtis, Jones, and Walter - Walter's team has the best QB.
 

Colonel_Reb

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Kevin Walter has been my best fantasy WR this season. I just wish I was able to watch him play more often.
 

ToughJ.Riggins

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Texans' Walter knows score again
The receiver who set a school record with 20 career touchdowns in college seemed to have lost his way to the end zone in the NFL. Now, he's the AFC leader with eight
By MEGAN MANFULL Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 12, 2008, 11:29PM

Walter, Eastern Michigan's career touchdown leader, is tied with Randy Moss for most touchdown receptions.
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Walter, a seventh-round draft choice of the New York Giants, was claimed on waivers by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003. He earned a roster spot with his aggressiveness on special teams, but struggled to get on the field behind the top receivers â€â€￾ Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

Needed opportunity

Little changed when he arrived in Houston in 2006. By the end of his fourth NFL season, Walter had just one career touchdown and 416 total receiving yards.

"I always thought if I had the opportunity to go out and make plays, I could do it," Walter (6-3, 215 pounds) said . "Even when I was in Cincinnati behind Chad and T.J. It's all about going out and working hard and when you have the opportunity, going out and taking advantage."

Walter, who set a school record with 20 career touchdowns at Eastern Michigan, is making up for his lost time in the end zone these days. He is in the midst of his best NFL season, with an AFC-leading eight touchdown receptions. Only Patriots receiver Randy Moss has reached the end zone as many times.

"I'm just excited to be playing on the other side of him," Andre Johnson said. "He's improved every year he's been here, and he wants to be an elite receiver in this league. He talks to me a lot about it, and he's getting better every time he steps out on the field."

With Walter's emergence, the Texans are on the brink of a franchise first with two 1,000-yard receivers. Walter, 27, needs to average 50 receiving yards the final three weeks to reach 1,000 yards for the season. Johnson has 1,201 receiving yards â€â€￾ a career high for him as well.

Walter is aware that much of his success is due to the attention defenses focus on Johnson. Helping free up Johnson is part of Walter's motivation each week.

"Hey, I'm trying to make his job easier, to tell you the truth," Walter said. "That's what I keep telling him, 'I'm trying to make your job easier.' We've got guys on this offense that can make plays. We're trying to get that cloud corner off of him. If those guys are going to put single coverage on Owen (Daniels), myself or any other guys, we've got to take advantage of that and get them out of there so Andre can get that single coverage."

With the offense ranked third in the NFL, Walter's emergence has meant a lot to the Texans, and it's difficult for them not to boast about just how they acquired him in 2006. The Texans signed Walter to a four-year, $6.4 million deal as a restricted free agent. When the Bengals didn't match the offer sheet, the Texans only had to hand over a seventh-round draft pick.
Praised by coach

"He's a special player," coach Gary Kubiak said. "He plays hard in the running game. He seems to make big plays for our team all the time. Very unselfish player. For us to get him for a seventh-round draft choice a couple of years ago has been just a tremendous steal.

"Really looking forward to his future. I don't think he's scratched the surface. I think he's going to be a fine, fine player for a long time. He takes care of himself. The game is very important to him. People can count on him."

Walter also has shown his versatility and ability to be a big-play threat this season. In the past five weeks, he had catches of 60, 61 and 58 yards. In his first four NFL seasons, his longest catch was for 33 yards.

A couple of more long catches and Walter easily will reach 1,000 yards.

"Some people say I couldn't get downfield, but I always felt I could," Walter said. "I just have to continue to do that and keep getting into the end zone."

DYNAMIC DUOS

Gary Kubiak has coached for five teams with two 1,000-yard receivers. Kevin Walter needs 149 yards over the final three weeks to give the Texans their first 1,000-yard tandem:

Year Player Rec. Yds. Player Rec. Yds.

1997 Shannon Sharpe 72 1,107 Rod Smith 70 1,180

1998 Rod Smith 86 1,222 Ed McCaffrey 64 1,053

1999 Rod Smith 79 1,020 Ed McCaffrey 71 1,018

2000 Ed McCaffrey 101 1,317 Rod Smith 100 1,602

2004 Rod Smith 79 1,144 Ashley Lelie 54 1,084

2008 Andre Johnson 92 1,201 Kevin Walter 55 851

megan.manfull@chron.com
 

backrow

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he's my favourite player in the NFL and has been since Alstott retired (although Hillis is up there as well). let's hope he'll get his 1000 and Texans franchise record in TDs with 9+!
 

celticdb15

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love watching him, I picture Jordy Nelson to be like him in a year or two
smiley4.gif
Edited by: celticdb15
 

Don Wassall

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Walter is an All-Pro caliber receiver, but he has likely leveled out as far as how well he'll do with Houston as long as Andre Johnson is healthy. With Owens and Moss on the downside of their careers, Braylon Edwards a head case, Brandon Marshall a thug, and Steve Smith likely at any moment to beat somebody up, Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald are the logical next poster boys for NFL wide receivers.


But at least Houston signed Walter away from the Bengals wasteland and gave him an opportunity to start and excel against the wishes of the Houston media and the team's DWFs, who were all screaming for someone, anyone, to start rather than Walter back in the summer of 2007.
 

bigunreal

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I watched a lot of Texans' games this season on Sunday Ticket, since I have Slayton in two fantasy leagues and Walter in another. It is incredible to watch how the team forces the ball to Andre Johnson. This guy gets more targets than just about anyone in the league.

Walter, on the other hand, was almost completely ignored in the last three games. It's amazing that he was able to produce the way he did, considering what an afterthought he was in the Houston offense.

Houston will never be a winning team as long as they force feed the ball to one guy (Johnson). If you watch their games, you can see that 90% of the interceptions Schaub/Rosenfels throw are the result of trying to force the ball to a blanketed Johnson. This mirrors the situation in Dallas, where Romo continues to force the ball to that idiotic T.O., and interceptions ensue because of that.

I will never understand the new, prima dona WR syndrome. Except for T.O. and Moss, whose numbers have been undeniably great, all the other highly touted ones (Ocho Cinco, Andre Johnson, Steve Smith) post pedestrian numbers despite a multitude of targets every game. But then again, I don't understand much of anything about the Caste System.
 

StarWars

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Connor Barwin, Brian Cushing, and James Casey combine to make the Texans the least caste team along with the offense of the Colts. Go Texans in the 2009 to 2010 season!
 

Thrashen

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Yeah man, the Texans were a blast to watch last season....Walter made huge catches every week and Owen Daniels is a top 3 TE (after Witten and Scheffler). They needed more whites on defense...and that's just what they drafted.

Connor Barwin is not only super-athletic and versitile, he seems VERY confindent in his interviews. He's not your typical meek white athlete the sports media loves to much...he seems like a real man who won't take any ********.

Best of luck to the Texans, Packers, Patriots, and Colts this season! All these teams could easily make the playoffs or the superbowl.
 

guest301

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I hope the Texans play well early in the season so some of their games will be televised across the nation instead of just the southwest area. I look forward to following their progress.
 

Don Wassall

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Looks like Walter is going to land somewhere other than Houston. Doesn't surprise me the way his role in thepassing gamewas reduced last season even with Owen Daniels on IR. This blurb mentions Jacksonville as being interested. If they sign him to starter's money it might not be that bad a place given the sorry lot of receivers on the team after Sims-Walker. But then again this is Blacksonville and Black Jack Del Rio we're talking about, though they did move slightly away from their previous coal blackness last year.

The Florida Times Union suggests Jacksonville as a possible landing spot for free agent Kevin Walter. Walter would give the Jags a sure-handed possession receiver to book end play-making split end Mike Sims-Walker, keeping Mike Thomas in the slot. Walter, though, is going to command a pretty penny over a multi-year deal and turns 29 before the season. The Jags aren't usually big free agency players.
 

whiteathlete33

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It's the usual situation for white receivers. The Texans want want afflete Jacoby Jones to be the starter this year. It's a shame because he had a good season in 2008 in Houston but wasn't used as much this past season.
 
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From SI:

1:39 p.m. -- Ravens focused on Walter, not Boldin

Though it's not known whether contract talks are anywhere near the final stages, the Ravens are believed to be focused on Houston receiver Kevin Walter as Friday's first full day of free agency continues to unfold.

The Ravens are one of the teams most in need of a receiver in free agency or the draft, and sources said they've been targeting Walter, the Texans' No. 2 receiver behind All-Pro Andre Johnson, in recent weeks and doing extensive film study on him. Baltimore has been quiet so far in the opening hours of free agency, but there is increasing speculation within the league that general manager Ozzie Newsome has made an early offer to Walter.

It's also believed the Ravens would rather sign Walter for somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million a year, than give up a third-round draft pick to Arizona for 29-year-old receiver Anquan Boldin, who they would then have to pay in the range of $8 million a year. Boldin has been nagged by injury the past three years, and hasn't played a complete season for the Cardinals since 2006.

The Ravens think the 6-foot-3 Walter will fit nicely as their No. 2 receiver, and with his height, speed and skill set, he blends well with the recently signed Donte Stallworth -- whose more of a vertical, downfield threat. Terrell Owens remains a fallback option for Baltimore, but not a particularly appealing one.
--Don Banks

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...gency.tracker/index.html?hpt=T2#ixzz0hKY1r4WB
Get a free NFL Team Jacket and Tee with SI Subscription
 

chris371

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On dwids highlight video of walter, on the last play of the vid, he outruns the entire ravens secondary. I think he might have impressed somebody on the ravens.
 

backrow

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i love how much interest Kevin is receiving. clearly he's yet another white WR who proved himself. Next ones up are Gonzalez, Collie and Nelson!
 

whiteathlete33

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It's about time a white receiver gets a lot of interest. In Kevin's case he has the full package: good speed,hands, and great size(6'3). Even his lack of correct pigment isn't really hurting him.
 

celticdb15

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If Walter goes to the Ravens, Joe Flacco will be one happy QB! Hopefully this deal works out, that would be an interesting combo.
 

ToughJ.Riggins

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John Harbaugh is the Ravens' coach. He's the brother of Jim (Stanford) who's pretty fair to white skill players (other than him not recruiting ENOUGH white RBs or any white CBs). I think John and GM Ozzie Newsome might have targeted Gerhart if Ray Rice didn't dominate so much last season. Hopefully John will use Walter to the best of his abilities as an OUTSIDE WR!
 

Don Wassall

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The Ravens just traded for Anquan Boldin, so it looks like Walter will be going elsewhere.
 

Freethinker

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WR Kevin Walter is the unsung hero of the first two games. He was targeted 11 times at Washington. He caught 11 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown, giving him two touchdowns in two games. At this time last season, he couldn't play because of a hamstring injury.
(Yahoo! Sports)


Nice props from Yahoo. I added the bold to emphasis how efficient Walter was. Really, all white receivers are extremely efficient, sure handed and dependable, but of course we all know this. If Walter was not he'd be in the Arena League.

Even with my knowledge of the Caste System, it still boggles my mind that every team wouldn't at least have one dependable (read white) receiver. Sure they can still have their 3 or 4 other affletes with speed, swivel, upside and swag but wouldn't they want that one guy they can count on for a critical 3rd down play?
 
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