Calvin Johnson is slowly changing Cris Carter's opinion, but the ESPN analyst said during a radio appearance today that the Detroit Lions star still isn't an elite wide receiver.
“I believe there’s really four elite wide receivers,” Carter said on the Mike and Mike show. “That would be Greg Jennings, Roddy White, Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Johnson. Those guys separated themselves over the course of the last several years from the other receivers.
“Now, Calvin Johnson is playing the best football of his career. He’s getting single coverage now, he’s beating single coverage. He had double coverage in the red zone; him and (quarterback Matthew) Stafford have great chemistry together. He is playing at a top-five level, but before this season, he wasn’t better than those other four guys.”
Carter didn't rank Johnson among his top six receivers during a radio segment this summer. He said today DeSean Jackson, one of the players he initially put ahead of Johnson, "really shouldn’t have been in" his list.
Johnson leads the NFL with six touchdown catches through three games and made a highlight-reel 40-yard over-the-shoulder grab to set up Jason Hanson’s winning field goal in Sunday’s overtime victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
“He’s starting to come into his own, which he should be,” Carter said. “He should be coming into his prime, and he’s only going to get better. He’s a phenomenal player.”
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford tweeted today: "Does anyone think 8 tds in 4 weeks will change chris carters mind about an 'elite' receiver? #megatron."
Carter also said he isn’t surprised by the Lions’ 3-0 start, based on their schedule and their offensive firepower. The Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers are the NFL’s only other unbeaten teams.
“Matthew Stafford is a really talented thrower of the football,” Carter said. “Last year, we really got Aaron Rodgers, especially down the stretch and in the playoffs, but there’s not a lot of quarterbacks that can throw the ball better than Matthew Stafford can. If he can stay healthy, they’re going to score a lot of points.”