Calvin Johnson: Puka Nacua is prime to break my NFL receiving record

Calvin Johnson doesn't expect his single-season NFL record for receiving yards to last much longer.

And if he had to guess, Los Angeles Rams star Puka Nacua will be the one to break it.

"He's still got Matthew [Stafford ], so I think he's got a shot," Johnson, the former Lions star, told the Detroit Free Press at his fourth annual celebrity golf outing Monday. "If he stays healthy, that dude's a killer out there."

And Johnson said he'd be happy to see it happen, given he and Stafford were once teammates in Detroit.

"That would be kind of dope," Johnson told the Free Press. "I'd have to go to that game if he did that, cause I like Puka. He's getting some crap out of his system that's just a young guy, just learning, but I think he's an awesome, dynamic receiver."

Johnson set the single-season mark in 2012, breaking Jerry Rice's record with a 1,964-yard campaign -- in 16 games. Johnson told the Free Press that he's surprised no one has eclipsed it since the NFL moved to a 17-game regular season in 2021 but knows it's just "a matter of time" -- and a virtual certainty if the league goes to 18 games.

Nacua is entering his fourth season and is coming off his best campaign, collecting 1,715 yards in 16 games. Other active wideouts have approached Megatron's mark, including Cooper Kupp while with the Rams in 2021 (1,947 yards in 17 games) and the Minnesota Vikings ' Justin Jefferson in 2022 (1,809 in 17 games).

Johnson told the Free Press that he initially thought Jefferson would have passed him.

"I thought he could have been one, but they messed up his quarterback situation when they brought in my man from Michigan [ J.J. McCarthy ] when they had [ Sam] Darnold just win them 14 games," he told the newspaper. "I hate seeing people get fired, but people get fired when stuff like that happens.

"[Jefferson has] got the talent. What year is he in? Like six or seven? I mean, he needs to do it soon. He needs to do it soon, probably."

_Originally reported by [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/49078087/calvin-johnson-sees-puka-nacua-top-threat-receiving-mark)._