Rod Streater trying to convince Matt Schaub he can be his new Andre Johnson

For the past seven seasons in Houston, Matt Schaub had All Pro receiver Andre Johnson as a security blanket. Johnson was downright dominant during that time, having over 1000 yards in every season he played more than nine games and three times going over 1500 yards. Rod Streater would like to take over that role for the Raiders.

"I talked to [Matt Schaub] before," Streater said in an interview with Bay Area radio station, 95.7 The Game. "Andre Johnson was one of my favorite receivers growing up, so I already told him, ‘yo I got the 80, Andre was my favorite receiver, we gotta make this happen'. I always watched him at Houston because watching Andre running deep routes, I try to base my game off someone like Andre Johnson so it's pretty exciting to know the guy that helped him build his career is now under center with me."

Streater's desire to fulfill the Andre Johnson role in Schaub's life has not gone unnoticed.

"(I) love the guy. (He's) such a hard worker, you know," Schaub said of Streater. "I've been fortunate to be around some guys who have put so much work and effort into their craft, but Rod's one of those guys early in his career you could really see he wants to be the best, and he works hard at it every day. I'm excited to watch him burst on the scene even more this year."

The Raiders have a good amount of potential in their current wide receiver corps. The 6-3, 200-pound Streater appears to most likely of them to be the kind of receiver the 6-3, 219-pound Andre Johnson was to Schaub in Houston.

James Jones is the new face in Oakland but in seven seasons in Green Bay, he has never risen to the level of an elite receiver despite having Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers throwing to him.

I asked Schaub back in May what would do after having Andre Johnson for so many years, and now coming to Oakland where there is no established number one guy. He didn't seem to have any issue with that.

"We don't have to have the focus on one guy," said Schaub. "We can beat you with four, five, six different guys, getting the football and distribute it. And on any given day, one of those guys might have 10 (catches) for 150 (yards) but we're not trying to set the standard like ‘hey, you're gonna be the guy that we're gonna go to this many times.' We're gonna try and spread it around, keep the defense honest."

Even still, as a quarterback, he has to hope he finds that guy who can be his go-to receiver. Streater worked his way up from undrafted free agent to starter as a rookie. If anyone can work his way into Schaub's favor, it's him. Even if the level of Andre Johnson might be a bit of a lofty goal.

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