NFL legend Calvin Johnson thinks one player has a shot at breaking his single-season receiving record
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- Calvin Johnson said Puka Nacua is the only player he sees breaking his 1,964-yard single-season receiving record set in 2012, pointing to Nacua's connection with Matthew Stafford and a pass-heavy Rams offense.
- Matthew Stafford threw 597 passes in 2025, the third-most in the NFL, and the top two single-season receiving totals in league history (Johnson 2012, Cooper Kupp 2021) both came from his pass-catchers.
- Cooper Kupp came within 17 yards of Johnson's record in 2021, finishing with 1,947 receiving yards — the only receiver in 14 years to come close to the mark.
- Puka Nacua finished second in the NFL in receiving yards in 2025 with 1,715 despite missing 1.5 games with an ankle injury, a pace that projects to roughly 1,880 yards over a full 17-game season.
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the NFL in 1,793 receiving yards in 2025 and was on a 2,029-yard pace through Week 13, but a late-season cold-weather stretch (five outdoor games in six weeks) stalled his run.
- Calvin Johnson dismissed Justin Jefferson as a record threat, blaming Minnesota's decision to replace Sam Darnold with J.J. McCarthy after a 14-win season.
- Johnson predicted the record will fall "hands down" once the NFL expands its regular season to 18 games, and said he would attend in person if Nacua is the one to top it.
Why it matters: The 1,964-yard mark has stood for 14 years despite the league's increasingly pass-friendly rules, and Johnson's endorsement gives Nacua — already a 1,700-yard receiver on a Stafford-led offense — a credible path. If Nacua stays healthy and the Rams keep throwing at their 2025 rate (597 attempts), the all-time record is within reach before the inevitable 18-game schedule makes it almost automatic.
