Whatever happened to the rule of thumb that it took receivers a year or two to hit stride? As a group, the 2014 wide receivers are putting up the best numbers ever.
Since 2000, only five wide receivers have gone over 1,000 yards. If form holds, three will do it this year. Mike Evans has had 124-plus yards three weeks in a row. Kelvin Benjamin has been catching touchdowns all along. Sammy Watkins has been great at times.
If form holds (if the guys keep playing like their playing) the 2014 wide receivers will account for a third of the top 21 yardage seasons in this century.
Not on this list, by the way, is Odell Beckham Jr., and he’s ripping it up pretty good recently for the Giants.
Cooks, by the way, has a broken thumb and could miss the rest of the season.
The biggest surprise of all is Taylor Gabriel, who’s been a good deep threat for the Browns for much of the season.
Here are the 800-yard receivers since 2000. Most of them, anyway. I know it includes all wide receivers selected in the first, second or third round of the draft. I also tossed in Marques Colston and Mike Williams. I might be forgetting about some other later-round receiver who made it over 800 yards.
But 2014 receivers have been great. Here's how they stack up (with their projected final totals) compared to what we've seen in the previous 14 years.
| RECEIVERS WITH OVER 800 YARDS SINCE 2000 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
| Anquan Boldin , Ariz. | 101 | 1377 | 13.6 | 8 |
| Mike Evans, T.B. | 74 | 1270 | 17.3 | 11.2 |
| Michael Clayton, T.B. | 80 | 1193 | 14.9 | 7 |
| Kelvin Benjamin, Car. | 76 | 1117 | 14.8 | 11.6 |
| A.J. Green, Cin. | 65 | 1057 | 16.3 | 7 |
| Keenan Allen, S.D. | 71 | 1046 | 14.7 | 8 |
| Sammy Watkins, Buff. | 72 | 1038 | 14.4 | 8.0 |
| Marques Colston, N.O. | 70 | 1038 | 14.8 | 8.0 |
| Dwayne Bowe, K.C. | 70 | 995 | 14.2 | 5 |
| Eddie Royal, Den. | 91 | 980 | 10.8 | 5 |
| Andre Johnson, Hou. | 66 | 976 | 14.8 | 4 |
| Mike Williams, T.B. | 65 | 964 | 14.8 | 11.0 |
| Julio Jones, Atl. | 54 | 959 | 17.8 | 8 |
| DeSean Jackson, Phil. | 62 | 912 | 14.7 | 4 |
| Jordan Matthews, Phil. | 70 | 893 | 12.7 | 9.6 |
| Chris Chambers, Mia. | 48 | 883 | 18.4 | 7 |
| Brandin Cooks, N.O. | 85 | 880 | 10.4 | 4.8 |
| Allen Robinson, Jac. | 77 | 877 | 11.4 | 3.2 |
| Justin Blackmon, Jac. | 64 | 865 | 13.5 | 5 |
| T.Y. Hilton, Ind. | 50 | 861 | 17.2 | 7 |
| Taylor Gabriel, Clev. | 46 | 843 | 18.2 | 1.6 |
| Lee Evans, Buff. | 48 | 843 | 17.6 | 9 |
| Torrey Smith, Balt. | 50 | 841 | 16.8 | 7 |
| Santonio Holmes, Pitt. | 49 | 824 | 16.8 | 3 |
| Roy Williams, Det. | 54 | 817 | 15.1 | 8 |
| Josh Gordon, Clev. | 50 | 805 | 16.1 | 5 |
| DeAndre Hopkins, Hou. | 52 | 802 | 15.4 | 2 |
—Ian Allan