Five and a half years ago, I wrote about Julio Jones was in the process of stealing the torch from Roddy White.  In 2012, both Falcons teammates finished in the top 12 in fantasy points scored by wide receivers. At 31, White had 92 catches for 1,351 yards and 7 touchdowns, while a 23-year-old Jones in 2012 had 79 catches for 1,198 yards and 10 TDs.   From 2008 to 2012, White ranked 2nd in receiving yards, tied for 2nd in receiving touchdowns, 3rd in receptions, and 3rd in receiving yards per game.  But the young Jones was about to take the torch from him as the Falcons top target.

From 2014 to 2018, Antonio Brown ranks 2nd in receiving yards (behind Jones), 1st in receiving touchdowns, 1st in receptions, and 2nd in receiving yards per game.  Now 30 years old, Brown is still in the prime of his career, but like White, he has a teammate 8 years his younger who may be threatening his future.  In this case, it’s 22-year-old JuJu Smith-Schuster who has had a breakout season in 2018.  Both players rank in the top 12 in fantasy points by wide receivers this year, but it’s Smith-Schuster who actually leads the Steelers in both receptions and receiving yards!

Assuming Smith-Schuster winds up leading the Steelers in receiving yards, Brown will almost certainly finish with one of the best WR2 seasons in history. It also would be one of the more interesting “pass the torch” scenarios in league history (if, of course, Smith-Schuster winds up being the best Steelers receiver over the next few years).

I looked at all players to lead a team in receiving yards for five consecutive seasons, as Brown did from 2014 to 2018. Then, I looked at the first year where that team had a different leading receiver. In just four instances did the original star receiver still have 1,000 receiving yards that year.

The first was with the Cris Carter Vikings, but it didn’t involve Randy Moss. In 1996, a 29-year-old Jake Reed led Minnesota with 1,320 receiving yards, while 31-year-old Carter — who had led the team every year in that category from ’91 to ’95 — finished second with 1,163 yards. Reed again led the team in receiving yards in ’97, before Moss would lead Minnesota in receiving yards in every season from ’98 to ’03.

From ’98 to ’03, Marvin Harrison led the Colts in receiving yards each year. In 2004, a 32-year-old Harrison had 1,113 yards, but 26-year-old Reggie Wayne led Indianapolis with 1,210 yards. Harrison would again lead the Colts in receiving yards in ’05 and ’06, before Wayne would embark on his own 6-year run as the leading receiver in Indianapolis.

Calvin Johnson led the Lions in receiving yards for six straight seasons; then, a 29-year-old Johnson had 1077 yards in 13 games in 2014, while 26-year-old Golden Tate had 1,331 yards in a full season. Megatron would again lead Detroit in receiving yards in 2015, before abruptly retiring.

Finally, Drew Hill led the Oilers in receiving yards each year from 1985 to 1989. At 34, Hill still gained 1,019 yards in 1990, but Haywood Jeffires had 1,048 yards at the age of 26. Jeffires would again lead Houston in receiving yards in 1991, but never developed into a franchise wide receiver.

I don’t know if Smith-Schuster is going to be the Steelers number one wide receiver going forward — Brown is still excellent — but it is nothing short of remarkable that at age 22, he is making that a very legitimate question to ask.