New Orleans Saints wide out Michael Thomas is every opposing defensive back’s nightmare. Last season, he compiled the fifth most single season receptions in NFL history (125). The 26-year-old has 121 catches right now, good for the 13th most in a single season with three games left to play.
He stands a great chance of breaking the record during the run in here, needing 23 more to surpass Marvin Harrison’s 143 grabs, which he achieved with the Indianapolis Colts in 2002.
His chances look good as he needs to average eight per game in order to set the new milestone. There hasn’t been a single three-game stretch this season in which Thomas had fewer than 24. In assessing the NFL predictions against the spread over the final stretch run here, you’ll see Thomas’ Saints often favored and playing with strong ambition. Tied with the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers for the second best record in the NFC (10-3), New Orleans are chasing the 11-2 San Francisco 49ers for the prize of playoff home field advantage.
You can expect NOLA to be airing it out and trying to score as much as they can, and Micheal Thomas will be their primary target as always. It will be fitting to see Thomas have a place in the record book, just like the quarterback who has been throwing to him most of his career, the NFL’s all-time passing leader, Drew Brees.
Of the top single season receptions marks in NFL history, all except Harrison’s top spot have occurred in the last five years. It just goes to show you how much it really is a passing league. And no single wide receiver embodied that more than the Ohio State product, who in just his fourth season has an astounding 442 catches in his NFL career, by far the most that any pass catcher has ever had in his first four seasons. He also has the record for most in his first three seasons with 321.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.