Tony Romo And His Many 1,000-Yard Receivers: Passing All Competitors

Since 2006, 190 NFL players achieved more than 1,000 receiving yards in one season. 13 of those seasons belong to Cowboys players. Off the top of your head, how many teams do you think had more 1,000-yard receivers than the Cowboys over those nine years? More than three? More than five?

Before we answer that question, let's first look at how many and which Cowboys players exceeded 1,000 receiving yards over the last nine years.

The Cowboys have had players exceed 1,000 receiving yards 13 times in the last nine years. 2011 was the only year in which the Cowboys didn't have a single player hit that statistical milestone, although Witten (942), Austin (928), and Robinson (858) all came relatively close.

Minor aside that doesn't show up in these numbers: Since 2007, Jason Witten has logged the second-most receiving yards on the team in every season except 2011, when he led the team in receiving yards.

Back to the original question: How many teams had more 1,000-yard receivers than the Cowboys since 2006?

Not a single one. The Patriots, Packers, and Broncos come closest, with 11 players each; the Colts and Cardinals have ten each. Over the past nine seasons, the Cowboys have almost as many 1,000+ yard receivers as all three NFC East rivals combined: The Giants have seven, the Eagles have five, and the Redskins four. So much for that divisional discussion. Here are the numbers for each team.

The common denominator for all 13 of the Cowboys' 1,000-yard receiving seasons is of course Tony Romo. Nobody has produced more such seasons than Romo, and the only other QB with 13 such seasons is Peyton Manning.

For the Cowboys, this year will probably be no different than previous years. Barring injury, Dez Bryant will easily top 1,000 receiving yards, whether he's playing on the franchise tag or with a long-term contract. There's also a chance that Jason Witten (or possibly Terrance Williams) could hit the 1,000-yard mark, because Witten will be Witten, as a Giants fan recently observed:

Witten will still destroy us this year. Actually in a wheelchair in 30 years, Witten will still be open over the middle vs us.

by Nygs0439 on May 7, 2015 | 2:33 PM

When your opponents know exactly who your main receiving targets are and can't do anything to keep them in check, then you've probably got some very special receivers, or a very special quarterback - and probably a combination of both.