ESPN ranks Calvin Johnson as top offensive player
In a poll that asked 90 ESPN experts to rank the top offensive players in the NFL, regardless of position, on a 0-to-10 scale, Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson was voted the best offensive player in the NFL with a 9.89 overall average.
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Last year in the same poll, Johnson ranked second. This new ranking comes after yet another dominant season from the 28-year-old, 6-foot-5 Detroit receiver. Johnson, in just 14 games last season, had 84 receptions for 1,492 yards and 12 touchdowns while battling injuries all season. Johnson ranked third in receiving yards and second in touchdowns despite missing two games and battling broken fingers as well as knee problems.
In 2012, Calvin Johnson passed Jerry Rice for the NFL single season receiving yards record with 1,964 yards beating Rice’s former record of 1,848.
Coming in a second on the list was Packer’s quarterback Aaron Rodgers followed by Broncos’ quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning was the offensive player of the year in the NFL last season. Rounding out the top five was Vikings’ running back Adrian Peterson and Saints’ tight end Jimmy Graham.
Johnson has settled in comfortably with an offense that relies on the pass from Matthew Stafford’s strong arm. With the stats that Johnson has had in his first seven years in the league, he may have a chance to go down as one of the greatest receivers of all time.