I’ve met Wes Welker a couple times. He’s a tiny dude. Kind of looks like he should be playing back up point guard for Duke or something. Definitely NOT a guy who might break NFL records for wide receivers. But right now he’s on pace to. Yeah it’s only been 5 games, but that is almost a third of the season. So far he’s got 45 catches. The next highest in the league is only 32. His current average of 9 a game would give him 144 receptions for the season, one more than the record Marvin Harrison set in 2002 with 143.
Wes also leads the NFL with 740 receiving yards through 5 games, 131 more than the next best. Yeah, it is almost impossible that he’ll keep averaging 148 yards a game (a pace for an absurd 2,320 for the season). But even if he only averages 101 yards per game the rest of the way, he’ll still break Jerry Rice’s record of 1,848 receiving yards in 1995.
Finally, Welker’s got 5 touchdown catches so far this season. Averaging one a game isn’t going to break Randy Moss’ record 23 in 2007, but if he finishes with 16 or more it will put his season in the all time top ten for TD catches. Combine that with the most receptions and/or receiving yards ever in a season, and it might well be the greatest year any wide receiver ever had.
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About Mark Vandeusen