NFL 2011 – Top 10 Players Through Week 5

Calvin Johnson is a beast!! (Yes, double exclamation marks are needed.) I always knew he was a good player, but this year, the beast has been let out. His two TD catches against my Dallas Cowboys were insane and I don't think even the great Jerry Rice could do what this guy is doing as far as leaping over defenders.  The guy they call  "Megatron" has 29 catches for 451 yards with a  15.6 yards per catch and 9 TD's to make him one of the leagues most dangerous receivers if not the best period.

First of all, who would have thought the Buffalo Bills would be sitting at 4-1?  A big reason for that is Fred Jackson.  Jackson is the 3rd leading rusher in the league right now.  He has 90 carries for 480 yards with 5 TD's.  He can also catch the ball well, snagging 19 catches for 232 yards with a 12.2 yards per catch average. 

Even though the Panthers are 1-4 going into week 6, rookie QB, Cam Newton continues to impress in his first year as the signal caller.  Newton is 113 of 194 for 1610 yards with 7 TD's.  He has thrown 6 interceptions,  though,  as his youth has shown at times.  Still, for a first year QB on what some believe is not a very good team at all, he's not doing too bad.  I don't think anybody can anoint him as the next Tom Brady, but he is holding his own pretty good.

One of the reasons Cam Newton has been doing pretty good is because of veteran wide reciever Steve Smith.  Smith has 27 receptions for 609 yards with 3 TD's.  Not really huge standout numbers but his 22.6 yards per catch is ridiculous. 

The Green Bay Packers are 5-0 for the first time since 1965 and, of course, the big reason for that is Aaron Rodgers.  He continues to pull further from the shadow of Brett Favre by putting up some amazing numbers. He has connected on over 71% of his passes going 129 of 180 passes for 1721 yards with 14 TD's and only 2 picks. Doesn't look like he'll be slowing down anytime soon.

Drew Brees continues to be, well, Drew Brees.  Brees is 152 of 219 for 1769 yards with 12 TD's and only 5 interceptions. The Saints have been dealing with their fair share of injuries including at the reciever, so the fact that he has such good numbers says a lot about the talent level of Brees. He is still one of the more dominating QB's in the league.

The only bright spot for the 1-4 Vikings, so far this season, is Adrian Peterson.  AP is arguably the best back in football, period.  This year, even though he's only had 2 games where he has rushed for more than 100 yards, he is still on pace to break 1000 yards for the 5th straight season in his amazing career.  Peterson has rushed 110 times for a modest 498 yards with 6 TD's.  No matter what the Vikings do this season, Adrian Peterson is still a very dangerous running back.

The speedy running back, that once shared the backfield with the Cowboy's Felix Jones at Arkansas, is off to a great start for the Raiders.  McFadden leads the league in rushing so far this season with 91 carries for 519 yards with 3 TD's.  He has a 5.7 yards per run average and is very capable of going all the way any time he touches the ball.

Wes Welker has been simply amazing this year as his numbers have exploded.   Last year, Welker, who had just come off of a serious knee injury in '09, had 86 catches for 848 yards.  This year, he already has 45 catches for 740 yards with 5 TD's with no sign of slowing down.  The 4-1 Patriots are averaging over 30 points per game and with Tom Brady at QB throwing to Welker, I would say the Pats are one of the leagues favorites to get back to the Super Bowl.

Check out Welker's 99 yard TD catch against the Dolphins.

Tom Brady continues to dominate the QB position.  The one blemish on his stats this year is the 6 interceptions after only having 4 all of last year.  Other than that, the machine known as Tom Brady is hitting 67% of his passes completing 133 of 196 for 1874 yards with 14 TD's.