Calvin "Megatron" Johnson Towers Over All Other Wrs In More Ways Than One

Sure, Detroit Lions superstar WR Calvin “Megatron” Johnson is bigger than any WR in the league. At 6’5" and 240 pounds, he is the size you would expect from a TE, but that 4.3 40-yard dash he runs is what separates him from every other player in the league. Having a 43-inch vertical jump doesn’t hurt either.

But he also towers over everyone else in terms of the stats he puts up despite having very little talent around him.

"Megatron" or "Tron" as I call him, has a shot to lead the league in receiving TDs for the second time in three seasons and has averaged 1,000 receiving yards per season. So why is it when people are asked who they think the best WR in the league is, the names I always hear are Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Randy Moss, Roddy White, etc?

Look how bad Fitzgerald is struggling without Anquan Boldin opposite him and not having Kurt Warner throwing to him.

Randy Moss has never put up big numbers except when he had great WRs across from him (Cris Carter, Wes Welker) and great QBs throwing to him (Randall Cunningham, Daunte Culpepper and Tom Brady). What did he do in Oakland? What is he doing in Tennessee?

Johnson has a solid QB throwing to him (Matt Schaub) and a great running game (Arian Foster), while White has Matt Ryan at QB and a great RB in Michael Turner and TE in Tony Gonzalez).

Even though he has been in the league for almost four seasons, Tron still hasn’t had the privilege of having another good WR opposite him, or a RB that can draw a safety into the box, or a QB that is actually good (unless you consider one of these mediocre QBs good: Jon Kitna, Dan Orvlosky, a past-his-prime Culpepper, Shaun Hill, Drew Stanton or Mr. shoulder injury himself Matt Stafford).

What would happen if the Lions ever put a surrounding cast around Tron? Well it’s hard to imagine what would happen since he’s never had one. Even in college at Georgia Tech, he had an average QB (Reggie Ball) and no WRs or RBs to take the pressure off of him yet he was still able to walk away as an All-American and the Fred Biletnikoff winner during his final year with the Yellow Jackets.

At the age of 22, Tron led all WRs in the league with 12 TDs in 2008 (Fitzgerald also had 12 that season but Tron also had a 2-point conversion). Tron entered this season at age 24 and is currently second in TDs (12), only two behind Kansas City Chiefs wideout Dwayne Bowe (14) for the league lead.

People need to stop penalizing Tron for playing for such a pathetic franchise. I’m just glad he will surely make his first pro-bowl this season (how he didn’t make it in 2008 is beyond me). Barry Sanders played for this same pathetic franchise and it doesn’t stop many from believing he was the best RB of all-time. So why can’t Tron be considered the best WR in the league?

Not to mention he doesn't feel the need to be a Diva like a Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco, Brandon Marshall, etc.

So for my money, if you can have one WR to build around it has to be Tron, and quite frankly, it’s not even close. Funny thing is my second choice would be Johnson and if Matt Millen wasn't so clueless, they'd be teammates right now. Thankfully for every secondary in the league, Millen was in fact clueless.

Where's Charles Rogers when you need him?