Lions WR Calvin Johnson came within 36 receiving yards of 2,000 in 2012. He broke Jerry Rice’s single-season record in 15 games. He had a streak of eight straight 100-yard games.

Yet quarterback Matthew Stafford said he thinks the Lions’ receiver could surpass his 1,964-yard effort in 2013.

“He thinks he can, which is all that matters,” Stafford told the NFL Network’s “NFL AM” last week.

“That guy works harder than anybody I know, and he thinks he can get better, so I wouldn’t put anything past him. He’s a guy that can obviously run all of the routes — inside, outside — make all of the catches and is a smart football player and a really good teammate.”

We predict Megatron to top 1,600 yards this season, but with 10 TDs compared to only 5 last year. Remember, he was tackled inside the 3-yard line six times in 2012. His middle-of-the-first round ADP says he's first to go after some of the star RBs come off the board.

Lions QB Matthew Stafford is on the verge of agreeing to a three-year contract extension that will keep him a Lion through 2017 and make him – for the second time in his short career – one of the highest-paid players in the NFL.

The 25-year-old already owns team single-season records for passing yards, touchdowns, completions and attempts, and he should break Bobby Layne’s career passing mark this fall.

He’s thrown for more than 10,000 yards the last two years, and joined Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks to top 5,000 yards in a single season in NFL history.

Stafford was a bit of a disappointment last season. After throwing for 41 TDs and over 5,000 yards in 2011, he finished with 20 TDs, 17 INTs in 2012. His mechanics have come under fire, and recently Ron Jaworski of ESPN rated him just the 16th overall QB. We rank Stafford 9th among our QBs this season with an ADP of the seventh round. He's just one of a group of QBs with big upside that you can wait on and take in the middle rounds if that's the strategy you choose. And, Stafford is surrounded by enough talent that could potentially land him in the top-five when all is said and done.

QB Matthew Stafford will be in Allen Park on Monday when the Lions open their off-season program, as he has almost every other day since the end of last season's 4-12 finish.

Stafford always has been a diligent worker, but in his first few years in the league he spent large chunks of time rehabbing in Florida, or in his native Texas or adoptive Georgia training the winter away.

This year, he has made it a point to stay local, working out at the Lions' facility, meeting with coaches and general manager Martin Mayhew, even helping woo running back Reggie Bush in free agency.

"There is not a guy that's done more for this franchise in this off-season than Matthew Stafford," president Tom Lewand said at the team's town-hall meeting last week. "The guy's been in the building every day. He's been living here the entire off-season. He's been working out, he's helped us recruit free agents, he's been involved on a daily basis in trying to get ready for the season, and he would do anything to help us be successful."

This can only help Stafford's relationship with his teammates. It's good to see him focused and in a leadership role after the Lions' disappointing season. He'll be a nice value in the middle rounds as the last few fantasy QB1s start to fall off the board.

The Lions' interest in Reggie Bush is real.

Who knows what happens with Bush at the end of the day, but plenty of NFL people at the combine believe the Lions will make Bush a primary target in free agency.

It might take $5 million or so a year to land the speedy running back, and Bush's desired destination isn't known. But the Lions' M.O. in recent years has been to try to surround Matthew Stafford with as much talent as possible (drafting Jahvid Best, Titus Young, Mikel Leshoure, Riley Reiff and Ryan Broyles, etc.), and that's not about to change.

It didn’t take long for Kris Durham to establish himself as the Detroit Lions’ No. 2 receiver.

Signed off the practice squad Tuesday, Durham started in his first career game with the Lions, caught four passes for 54 yards -- more than he had in three games as a rookie with the Seahawks last year -- and played 78 of 84 offensive snaps in Sunday night's loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Durham, who played three years with Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford at Georgia, was on the field more than every Lion but Stafford, Calvin Johnson and the starting offensive line.

That also includes WR Mike Thomas, who many thought would easily earn the starting WR job with no more Nate Burleson, Ryan Broyles or Titus Young. Durham made some mistakes, but there's some value there for a guy who played that many snaps in an offense that likes to throw the ball. This time of year, fantasy playoffs, would be a tough part of the season to trust him in your lineup, though.

Texans CB Johnathan Joseph (hamstring, questionable) is questionable for Thanksgiving Day. The fact that he is questionable is good news for Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford.

Late in the fourth quarter of their 24-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers, Fox TV cameras caught Lions receivers coach Shawn Jefferson yelling at offensive coordinator Scott Linehan on the sideline about receiver Titus Young.

Jefferson appeared to mouth, “Take him out. I can’t do it no more.” The clip aired with 1:13 left in the fourth quarter, shortly after Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford threw four straight incompletions – two to Young – on a drive that stalled at their own 20-yard line.

Young, who’s been in and out of the doghouse for his erratic behavior, was benched for the Lions’ final three offensive plays on their next series.

That's been the case for Young for a couple of years now. He has the talent, but the team is getting tired of his mental mistakes. He had a chance to really establish himself as the team's WR2 with the loss of Nate Burleson, but this isn't a good sign he's on his way to doing that. Rookie Ryan Broyles is the third receiver and the team traded for Mike Thomas at the deadline.

Calvin Johnson, whose ailing left knee didn't appear to bother him as much as it had last week, caught 12 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown — his first touchdown catch from quarterback Matthew Stafford this season.

But, on two of the catches, Johnston took shots to the head.

Remember, it was against the Vikings in Week 4 that Johnson suffered a stinger on a helmet-to-helmet hit by linebacker Chad Greenway.

"They hit him in the head twice," coach Jim Schwartz said. "Only one (Brinkley) got flagged."

Several Lions players and coaches were apparently not pleased with the headhunting tactics of the Vikings. Johnson left the field briefly after one hit, but did not require any kind of concussion test. And, it appears his knee injury is OK as well. Remember, Johnson has been tackled inside the 3-yard line six times now, so perhaps the fantasy gods say he's overdue...

Lions QB Matthew Stafford (hip, probable) took full practice reps on Friday after being limited earlier in the week and is probable for Week 4. The probable tag means that Stafford is expected to start in Week 4.

Lions QB Matthew Stafford (hip) returned to limited practice reps Thursday after missing Wednesday practice. Stafford is back on track to start in Week 4.