Calvin Johnson: No. 1 WR In the NFL?

    There were many great player performances in Week 1, a great start to the 2011 season. One player who always puts up great numbers, day in and day out, is wide receiver Calvin Johnson. Against the Buccaneers last weekend, Megatron caught two touchdown passes and had 88 total receiving yards. However, is he the best wide receiver in the NFL right now? The answer is yes.

Calvin Johnson

     Calvin Johnson's career has been a roller coaster; a mediocre rookie season in 2007, an outstanding year in 2008 (12 TD's, 1,331 receiving yards), a below average year in 2009, and a great year in 2010 (77 receptions, 12 TD's, 1,120 receiving yards), even without QB Mathew Stafford. The important thing for Calvin Johnson is if Mathew Stafford can stay healthy. Stafford has only played 14 NFL games throughout his entire career. When Stafford is healthy, Johnson averaged 75 yards per game and has total of 9 receiving touchdowns. If Stafford can play at least 12 games this year, don't be surprised if Megatron gets more than 15 touchdowns. 

     One name that constantly appears with Calvin Johnson is the other All-Pro Johnson; Andre Johnson of the Houston Texans. Andre Johnson has played in the NFL for 9 seasons, and is a 5-time Pro-Bowler. If you were to look at the statistics, you would see from 2007 to 2011, Calvin Johnson has combined for 33 touchdowns and 4,191 receiving yards, compared to Andre Johnson's 33 touchdowns and 5,211 receiving yards. Although Andre has better statistics, he is aging and will not perform as well as he did in the past.

     Johnson, 25 years old, may be one of the most exciting wide receivers to watch. His amazing leaping abilities allow him to out jump just about any cornerback in the NFL. Also, he is extremely fast for a 6 ft 5, 235 pound wide receiver, running past defenders so he can make the easy catch. However, the only problem with Johnson is his route running. From time to time, he might do a poor job of faking the defender on a route, and the play will end up looking really sloppy. Most of the time, however, we can expect a great performance out of Johnson, and hope to see another spectacular catch.

    It is still early in the NFL season, and it is hard to make prediction based on injuries, but if all goes well, Calvin Johnson will have the greatest receiving performance of the year.