Calvin Johnson lands 16th on PFF’s 2010s All-Decade team

PFF revealed their All-Decade team this week, naming the top 101 players from 2010 to 2019. The list featured several Detroit Lions players, including Ndamukong Suh (71) and Damon Harrison Sr. (56). But no Lions player finished higher than wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

Despite playing until just 2015, Johnson finished 16th on PFF’s list, behind only Antonio Brown (13) and Julio Jones (8) at the wide receiver position. That’s an impressive feat considering PFF admitted their list was skewed against player who only played a portion of the decade:

“Playing time was factored into the decisions, too; somebody who played twice as much within the decade was given some level of preference over players who played only a few seasons in the 2010s.”

“He left on the back of five straight seasons with a PFF grade of 88.0 or higher, and over the six seasons he played within the decade, he never had a grade lower than 83.0,” PFF’s Sam Monson wrote. “He scored a touchdown on almost 7% of targets, the third-highest rate of any receiver with 800 or more targets over the decade.”

Considering he only played six years in the decade, it’s truly amazing where he lands compared to the rest of the wide receivers from that era. Take a look:

Receiving yards (2010-19):

1. Julio Jones: 12,125
2. Antonio Brown: 11,263
3. Larry Fitzgerald: 10,016
4. Demaryius Thomas: 9,763
5. A.J. Green: 8,907
6. DeAndre Hopkins: 8,602
7. T.Y Hilton: 8,598
8. Calvin Johnson: 8,352

Receiving TDs (2010-19):

1. Antonio Brown: 75
2. Dez Bryant: 73
3. Jordy Nelson: 68
4. Demaryius Thomas: 63
5. A.J. Green: 63
6. Calvin Johnson: 62

Receiving yards per game (2010-19):

1. Julio Jones: 96.2
2. Calvin Johnson: 95.0
3. Michael Thomas: 87.5
4. Odell Beckham Jr.: 86.8
5. Antonio Brown: 86.0

Calvin Johnson was truly one of the greats the NFL has ever seen, and he’ll get his first opportunity to be enshrined forever in the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year.