Demaryius Thomas Eclipsing Lofty Expectations as NFL's Most Impressive Receiver

As the NFL nears the midpoint of the 2014 season, few players have had a more impressive season than the one Denver Broncos wideout Demaryius Thomas is putting together. 

Make no mistake; since Peyton Manning came to town in 2012, Thomas has enjoyed a resurgence in his career. He topped 1,000 yards for the first time that season, the first 16-game season of his career, and his scoring production jumped.

But the relationship has been a symbiotic one; Thomas' explosiveness and reliability have helped Manning put together a legacy in Denver. In that way, it was fitting that Thomas was the recipient of Manning's NFL-record 509th touchdown pass Sunday night in the Broncos' 42-17 thrashing of the San Francisco 49ers. 

Thomas had 171 of Denver's 419 total yards and scored 12 of their 42 points. 

Thomas has set records of his own this season. Against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4, he had a franchise-record 226 receiving yards on eight receptions, including an 86-yard touchdown that currently stands as not only his longest reception on the year, but also the longest reception by any receiver so far in 2014. 

Thomas averaged an eye-popping 28.3 yards per catch in that game. 

He's now strung together three consecutive games with 100 or more yards and has 521 yards over the last three games. As of Sunday, only nine receivers have more than 500 yards total on the season. 

However, Thomas' first three games of this season gave little indication of where he would be heading into Week 8. He only had 141 total yards on 13 receptions through the first three weeks of 2014, fewer than he's had in either of his last two games.

Thomas also struggled with uncharacteristic issues with drops. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) has him at three drops through six games, after he had nine all of last season. He also had a catch rate of 66.7 percent last year, which has fallen to 63.9 in 2014 due largely to his early-season showing. 

	Receptions	Yards	Yds/Rec.	Lng	TDs
First 3 Games	13	141	10.7	26	1
Last 3 Games	26	521	20.7	86	5

Why did Thomas struggle with drops at the start of the season, and why is it a non-issue now? Losing Wes Welker through the first two games of the season (with his suspension reduced from four games per the new drug policy) was a big part of it. 

In 2013, Welker lined up in the slot on 84.4 percent of his snaps and led the league in routes run there with 400, per Pro Football Focus. Not surprisingly, Thomas, Denver's top perimeter player, only ran 13.1 percent of his routes from the slot.

It's not the area in which the 6'3", 229-pound receiver excels. 

However, with Welker out at the beginning of the season and with the slot receiver playing an important role in Denver's offensive identity, that production had to come from somewhere.

Thomas has already lined up in the slot on 20.9 percent of his snaps so far this season per Pro Football Focus, the majority of those coming in the early-season games in which he had to replace Welker's production. However, his catch rate in the slot is just 53.8 percent, lower than his overall average for the season. 

Per ESPN.com's Jeff Legwold, because of his increased play in the slot, Thomas said he was "thinking too much, letting the dropped passes get to him too often."

After Welker returned and the Broncos had a bye week, Thomas clearly was able to get out of his own head and get back to business. Since the Week 4 bye, he hasn't had a game with less than 100 yards and at least one touchdown. 

Now he's well on track to career-highs in yards and touchdowns. His highest mark in both of those categories in a single season is 1,434 and 14, respectively.

With 662 yards and six touchdowns through six games, he's on pace for 1,765 yards and 16 in 2014. 

Certainly Thomas has some company in terms of the best receivers so far this season. Green Bay Packers wideout Jordy Nelson is mounting a monster season, and the Indianapolis Colts' T.Y. Hilton has been incredibly productive. The Pittsburgh Steelers' Antonio Brown has been a scoring machine. 

But there's no argument that over the past three games, Thomas has been the league's best receiver. And there's no reason not to expect that he'll continue at this pace, and perhaps even pin down the record that he came tantalizingly close to touching earlier this season: a 300-yard game. 

Manning and Thomas have made quite a show of breaking records together since 2012, and they have more opportunities to do so this season.