Is this the year an NFL receiver finally cracks 2,000 yards in a season?

Seven players have cracked 2,000 rushing yards in a season. The most recent was Adrian Peterson in 2012, but don’t expect to see it happen again any time soon. The NFL’s growing love affair with the passing game is phasing out gaudy rushing stats.

The NFL’s rushing champion last year was Kareem Hunt with 1,327 rushing yards. But the drop off in rushing numbers means we’ll finally get to see a 2,000-yard receiver soon. It’s inevitable.

Calvin Johnson is currently the record holder with a 1,964-yard season in 2012. Both Julio Jones and Antonio Brown cracked 1,800 yards in 2015, but neither could get to 1,900. So for now, the elusive first 2,000-yard season is still an achievement up for grabs.

To get there, a player would have to average a cool 125 receiving yards over 16 games. Through the first nine weeks of the season, three players are averaging over 100 yards, but each will have to pick up the pace in the latter half of the year. Can any of them get it done?

Jones is the all-time leader in receiving yards per game (97.0) and he’s topped 1,400 yards in each of the last four seasons. With 933 yards through eight games, he’s well on pace to become the first receiver ever to finish with more than 1,400 yards in five straight years.

But that 116.6 per game average puts him on pace for 1,866 yards by the end of the year. That would land at No. 3 all-time.

In his first four games of the year, Jones had huge games against the Eagles and Bengals with 169 yards and 173 yards, respectively. But those explosive games were immediately followed by 64-yard and 62-yard performances.

He’ll need to start pushing or exceeding 200 yards to get back on a record pace, and he’ll need to avoid the sub-100 games. More games like his 121-yard day against Washington in Week 9 — which even included his first touchdown in nearly a year — would get him close, but he needs just a little bit more.

If you need to be a model of consistency to have a shot at the record, then Thielen might be the guy. He tied Calvin Johnson’s record for consecutive 100-yard games by starting the 2018 season with eight in a row. While he was held to just 22 yards by the Lions, the record for 100-yard games for a receiver in a single season is 11 and he’s already at eight with seven left to play.

The bigger problem for Thielen than his one bad day is that his best game of the year was a 135-yard performance against the Rams.

Averaging exactly 100 yards per game will get a receiver to 1,600 yards, but it takes some more explosive performances to push for 2,000. Right now, Thielen is averaging just 105.2.

In 2016, Thielen and Sam Bradford connected 12 times for 202 yards and two touchdowns in a December game against the Packers. If he had another game like that, Thielen would be right in the record-breaking mix.

The newest addition to the chase doesn’t feel that new at all after 2,382 yards in his first two seasons. But until Sunday, he was in the pack of receivers averaging just under 100 yards per game.

Then he went off for 211 yards and — voila — here comes Thomas.

Now he’s averaging exactly 110 yards per game and shouldn’t have much problem soaring past his career-best mark of 1,245 receiving yards in a season. Thomas’ huge day against the Rams also included some style points, via the best touchdown celebration imaginable.

Thomas opened the year with a 180-yard performance against the Buccaneers. One more ridiculous game like that or the one he had against the Rams, and Thomas will be on the 2,000-yard pace. Maybe the Week 14 matchup between the Saints and Buccaneers is the one that’ll get him over the 125-yard per game threshold.