Denver Broncos: Is Demaryius Thomas a top-10 wide receiver?

Can Denver Broncos star wideout Demaryius Thomas finish the 2017 season ranked in the top 10 in production amongst all wide receivers?

Demaryius Thomas is one of the top wide receivers in the league and is one of the top assets for the Denver Broncos. He has been a core component to the team for the last five years. The offense runs through him and the team would be in major trouble if he were to ever go down with a major injury. With that being said, he’s a stud athlete who has the ability to take over games.

Thomas has finished with over 1,000 yards receiving every year since 2012. He finished in the top 10 in receiving yards four times, in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. He also finished with double-digit touchdowns three times in his seven-year career. Thomas currently ranks 14th amongst active wide receivers with 7,704 career receiving yards.

Will 2017 be his sixth-straight season with over 1,000 yards receiving or will this be the year he falls short? Thomas is a very talented player and one of the best in the league at his position, so it’s very easy to imagine him finishing as one of the top producing wide receivers this year. But there are a few things that can get in his way.

Of course, injuries can derail his season. Luckily, he has been relatively healthy as of late, starting all 16 games in every season since 2012. Injuries are unfortunate and are almost impossible to predict. If an injury does impact his production, it will be very hard to fault him for not cracking the top 10 in receiving yards.

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Thomas finished with just 1,083 receiving yards while averaging 67.7 yards per game last season, barely surpassing the 1,000-yard barrier. There were numerous things that caused last year’s decrease in production, but the instability at the quarterback position was one of the main attributes to the lack of production in 2016.

There’s a very good chance that the volatile quarterback play from last year could transfer to this year, impacting Thomas’ ability to take over games. Paxton Lynch and Trevor Siemian are still in the developmental stages in their career, no matter which quarterback becomes the starter, there will still be some growing pains in the near future, effecting the quality of targets for Thomas.

Sheer passing volume could be another thing that could get in Thomas’ way, as the team could swing toward more of a running heavy approach to try and make things easier for their young quarterbacks, curtailing the number of Thomas’ potential pass targets. If for some reason his passing targets decrease, then the odds are highly likely that his overall production will also drop.