Can Calvin Johnson be the NFL's best of all time?

Last week, Cowboys’ Dez Bryant decided to compare himself to Detroit’s Calvin Johnson, saying that he might be shorter but still on the same level.

Calvin Johnson answered back by hanging 329 receiving yards on Bryant’s Cowboys.

Bryant is phenomenal, however Johnson is on a whole different level from anyone else in the game. Ever.

No player in the history of the NFL has dominated his position like Jerry Rice.

You can debate who the best quarterback, running back, or linebacker of all time was, but when it comes to wide receivers, there is only one name: Jerry Rice.

The way Rice ruled the wide receiver position has led many to call him the greatest to play the game, regardless of position.

In NFL Network’s most recent Top 100 players of all time, Rice is rated #1.

Since Rice’s retirement, only one person has even been able to knock on the door of such stardom.

That person is Calvin Johnson a.k.a. Megatron.

The second overall pick in the 2007 draft has drawn all-star attention since day one of his NFL career.

But Johnson cannot be better than the G.O.A.T. of the NFL, right?

Wrong.

It’s hard to even touch an athlete that played for 20 years and reeled in 1,549 receptions for 22,895 yards and 197 touchdowns.

It’s also quite unfair to compare Johnson’s career stats to Rice’s considering that he has played only 6.5 seasons so far. Weird thing is, it’s completely acceptable and they compare quite well.

During Rice’s first six seasons, he recorded 446 receptions, 7866 receiving yards, and 79 touchdowns.

Taking a look at CJ’s first six seasons: 488 receptions for 7836 yards and 54 touchdowns. Fun fact: both missed only four games during their first six years of play.

Adding the seventh season, Johnson will (on pace) add another 107 receptions for 1876 yards and 16 touchdowns.

That season is better than Rice’s seventh season (1991) in all three statistics.

Jerry Rice’s longevity makes a lot of his career milestones pretty much untouchable.

A wide receiver playing 20 seasons is unheard of nowadays.

Of course if Johnson winds up playing the same number of seasons as Rice, he is on pace to break two of his records, with 1646 receptions, 26,636 yards, and fall just 10 touchdowns short with 187.

For the record, there have been three touchdowns called back that would have been considered perfectly fine back in Jerry Rice’s day.

Let’s not forget that Megatron has shattered Rice’s record of receiving yards in a single season by over 100 yards (1964) last season.

CJ also holds records in most consecutive 100 receiving yard games (8) and is currently tied with Michael Irving for most 100-yard games at 11.

As statistics go, there is one number that will always separate Megatron and Jerry Rice: three.

That is the number of Super Bowls Jerry Rice has won.

With three Super Bowl victories in his career, Rice will always be in arguments as the best of the game.

Without one so far, Johnson has a bit of a monkey on his back.

However, there was a huge difference between the two. One was a guy named Joe Montana.

It must be nice having a Hall of Famer, and one of the greatest players of all time in his own right, throwing you the ball for the majority of your NFL career.

When Montana left, Rice had to deal with this guy named Steve Young throwing him the ball.

232 touchdowns and a 23-point super bowl win later I’d say Young had a nice career for himself.

With two Hall of famers throwing him the ball in Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh’s brand new West Coast offence, which was like the read-option for receivers at the time, Jerry Rice played in a wide receiver’s paradise.

Calvin Johnson on the other hand had Jon Kitna originally throwing to him.

How about the fact that his new quarterback Matt Stafford throws the ball in the air while Megatron must locate it, fight off the triple coverage, and then make some spectacular catch just about every single time.

The Lions haven’t had a great running back since Barry Sanders.

It’s about time they brought in Reggie Bush to produce, but without a true #2 WR, CJ will continue to have more than one defender shadowing him at all times.

It seems like Rice never had this problem.

He had an elite quarterback, was under elite coaching, thrived under a new system defences still had to figure out, and other weapons (Wes Chandler, Roger Craig of note) around him.

Seems like Rice was born into the NFL with a silver spoon while Megatron has to start from the bottom.

Only time will tell whether Johnson can continue this streak of stellar play or not.