Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson is catching 64 percent of his targets this season. That's a career high for the 30-year-old veteran. But where are the big plays, the deep balls that flip the field? And what happened to Johnson inside the red zone? That's where fantasy owners expected him to put in real work, win one-on-ones and use his enormous 6-foot-5, 237-pound frame to go up and get the ball.
Of the 50 targets Johnson has seen this season, only eight have come at least 15 yards down the field. That's an average of 1.6 targets down the field per game, a drop from the 2.9 such targets per game he has averaged every year in his career entering this season. If that doesn't worry Johnson owners, the red zone numbers will. Through five games, Johnson has only four total targets inside the 20-yard line. Four. That's an average of 0.8 targets per game. That's ridiculous, really, for a guy who has the size and ultra-rare athleticism to climb the ladder versus defensive backs.
What's going on here? And why has Johnson failed to produce like a dependable WR1 for fantasy owners? Let's try to talk this through, focus on the limitations of the Detroit offense and discuss the upcoming matchups that Johnson must take advantage of to get back on track.