In today's Detroit Free Press, the Freep's resident contrarian hack for pay, Drew Sharp, gave his opinion on the contract status of the Lions' most talented player, wide receiver Calvin Johnson. He declares the Lions need not pay Megatron because wide outs are easily replaceable in comparison to other positions.
This is the example Sharp uses to defend his opinion:
Tim Tebow received all the hurrahs and hosannas for his one-play, one-pass overtime victory against Pittsburgh last weekend, but it was Demaryius Thomas who turned a short crossing route into an 80-yard touchdown because he was big and strong enough to stiff-arm himself free from a defensive back and break a tackle. And fast enough to motor down the sideline before anybody could catch him.
Never heard of Demaryius Thomas?
He was a stud receiver at Georgia Tech who immediately filled the void of another stud Yellow Jackets receiver ... Calvin Johnson.
Let's take a quick look at Thomas and Johnson over their first 2 seasons.
(FYI: I know we aren't talking aout Thomas being a direct replacement, but I'm trying to make a point as to how hard replacing a once in a generation talent would be, so bear with me)
Thomas has yet to play a full season due to various injuries, including a torn Achilles tendon. In Johnson's first 2 seasons, he missed 1 game.
In those seasons, both players had mediocre or worse quarterbacks throwing to them, Thomas had Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow; Johnson had Jon Kitna, Daunte Culpepper and Dan Orlovsky. Thomas' numbers reflect it, Megatron overcame them.
Thomas has yet to lead the league in anything. Megatron led the NFL in TD catches in his 2nd season.
Thomas' first 2 seasons have been washouts, more so considering his 1st round draft status of 22nd overall. Johnson more than lived up 2nd overall his draft status and then some, breaking out in his second season.
With preliminaries out of the way, let's look at the hard numbers.
Demaryius Thomas:
Receiving Year Age G GS Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm 2010 23 10 2 22 283 12.9 2 31 2.2 28.3 284 2011 24 11 32 551 17.2 4 47 556 Career 10 13 54 834 15.4 6 47 5.4 83.4 840Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/15/2012.
Calvin Johnson:
Receiving Year Age G GS Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm 2007 22 15 10 48 756 15.8 4 49 3.2 50.4 808 2008 23 16 16 78 1331 17.1 12 96 4.9 83.2 1330 2009 24 14 14 67 984 14.7 5 75 4.8 70.3 1057 2010* 25 15 15 77 1120 14.5 12 87 5.1 74.7 1152 2011*+ 26 17 96 1681 17.5 16 73 1692 Career 60 72 366 5872 16.0 49 96 6.1 97.9 6039Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/15/2012.
In 2 seasons with Denver, Thomas generated 32 more yards from scrimmage than Megatron did in 1 as a raw rookie. Of course, the next 2 seasons solidified Johnson's status as a star and Pro Bowler. In 2011 Johnson made the leap to near unanimous All-Pro status.
Thomas, regardless of Sharp's hyperbole, is still an unproven work in progress. One big playoff game does not a Megatron replacement make. Thomas may end up a star, or be little more than a journeyman...but he'll never be mentioned in the same realm of Calvin Johnson. As would any player the Lions used to take Johnson's roster spot...as you cannot actually replace Megatron and his production.
Despite numbers to the contrary (let alone the eyeball test), Sharp believes (or he's just trolling for page hits, you never can tell with Sharp) the Lions could easily replace a player who is on track for a Hall of Fame career. Using Sharp's logic, the Redskins' Timmy Smith, who holds the Super Bowl single game rushing record (204 yards, SB XXII), would have been an able replacement for Barry Sanders.
Going by the numbers, I can only come to one conclusion...
Original Story:
http://waynefontes.com/2012-articles/...
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January 16, 2012
