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Calvin Johnson's 2012 season remains the most prolific in NFL history, as his 1,964 yards remains the record for receiving yards in a single season. 

That record remaining in his name for the past 12 years has surprised the Hall of Famer, who assumed that it would've been "gone a couple years ago" for a couple reasons.  

"I was expecting more of an explosion as far as what we see for yards per season. And just my record, for instance, I didn't expect that to still be standing at this point," Johnson told Kevin Clark on This Is Football. "One, they added a game and two, you can't really touch the receiver nowadays. So, I expected that thing to be gone a couple years ago when guys were getting close but it still hasn't fallen."

Johnson explained that with the continued crackdown on physicality by defensive backs, the addition of a 17th game and the number of elite receivers in the league, he didn't expect to still sit atop the NFL's record books. As for which of today's receivers have a chance, he highlighted a few names you'd expect, but also a rookie that came as a bit of a surprise. 

"Ja'Marr Chase has a chance if his quarterback is healthy," Johnson said. "Justin Jefferson. I thought Tyreek [Hill] would have a chance, but I don't know after his injury. Cause he was there a couple years where he was [1,700], [1,800], he might've even hit [1,900]. I don't know right now -- oh, what's the young kid in Tampa? I like this kid [Emeka Egbuka], I'm keeping my radar on him. He could be really good. And there's definitely young guys I'm leaving out."

When asked about Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who leads the NFL in receiving this year, Johnson acknowledged his incredible play this season and noted "if there's somebody that's gonna have a chance this year, it'd be him."

Smith-Njigba could do just that. He needs to continue averaging 115 yards per game over his final eight games, as he has for the first nine games, to break Johnson's record. His 85 targets are nearly triple the next most on Seattle (35 for Cooper Kupp), and if he maintains that kind of target share and Seattle continues to let Sam Darnold sling it downfield, he could threaten Johnson's record.

There have been some receivers who threatened the mark, namely Cooper Kupp in 2021 when he finished with 1,947 yards. As Johnson noted, Justin Jefferson went over 1,800 yards in 2022, Hill hit 1,799 yards in 2023 and CeeDee Lamb went for 1,749 yards in the same year.

The challenge for anyone trying to break Johnson's record is that even with the additional game, offenses throwing more and the way the game is called, it's hard to get the kind of target share Johnson got in that 2012 season. He had a staggering 204 targets that season -- the most of his career by 46 -- and the leader last year in targets was Chase with 175. 

Modern NFL offenses definitely pass the ball more on the whole, but few throw that much to a single receiver and those Lions teams were a bit ahead of their time when it came to the volume of passing they did. Matthew Stafford's 727 attempts that 2012 season would've been 75 more than the leader in pass attempts last year -- Joe Burrow at 652. 

For those reasons, Johnson's record may be safe for a bit longer, even as players have an extra game to try and catch him. If the league ever adds an 18th game, it will almost assuredly fall, but still will take a special season which only further proves how outrageous his 2012 campaign was.