Five milestones Detroit Lions players will hit in 2019

With the NFL in hibernation mode for the summer, we’re looking ahead to the 2019 season with five lists of five. These are players, trends and predictions sure to go wrong about the Lions and the NFL in general this fall. First up, a look at some significant landmarks several Lions players are on the verge of hitting.

Matthew Stafford: 40,000 yards passing

Stafford set records for fastest player in NFL history to reach 20,000 yards passing and 30,000 yards passing, so it stands to reason he’ll be the fastest player to reach 40,000 yards as well. Stafford enters this fall needing 1,474 yards to reach the mark and should get there sometime in early October. He’s played in 141 games so far in his career. Matt Ryan, the second-to-last of the 20 players currently in the club, set the NFL record in 2017 when he reached 40,000 yards passing in 151 career games.

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Don Muhlbach: 233 games played

This isn’t a record that rolls off the tongue, but if Muhlbach plays in the Lions’ first five games this fall – and there’s no reason to think he won’t – he’ll enter the NFL’s top 100 all-time in games played. Think about that for a second. In the long history of this game, Muhlbach, a long snapper from east Texas, will have played more games than almost anyone else. Muhlbach is currently tied for 108th all-time at 228 games played, the same as Hall-of-Famers Ray Lewis and Kevin Greene. If he plays all 16 games this fall, he’ll rank in the top 60 all-time on the list.

Damon Harrison: 100 consecutive games played

Harrison, you may have heard, is in a bit of a contract dispute with the Lions, but there’s no reason to think that will spill over into the regular season. He ain’t catching Muhlbach in terms of games played, but what the 350-pound defensive tackle has done is pretty darn impressive in its own right. Harrison became just the eighth player since 1931 to appear in 17 games in a season last year, giving him 98 straight games played overall. Among NFL defensive tackles, only Ndamukong Suh (115) and Malik Jackson (106) have longer current streaks.

Kerryon Johnson: 1,000 yards rushing

OK, so this is a bit of a projection, but Johnson was on track to top 1,000 yards before he injured his knee last season and the Lions want to have more of a run-oriented offense this fall. Johnson averaged 5.3 yards per carry as a rookie. If he can duplicate that rate this fall, he'll need just 189 carries to hit the magical 1,000-yard mark, a number last reached in Detroit by Reggie Bush in 2013. Since Barry Sanders retired two decades ago, the Lions have had just three 1,000-yard rushers: Bush, Kevin Jones and James Stewart. Johnson should be the fourth.

Theo Riddick: 353 receptions

I’m not entirely sure what Riddick’s role will be this fall. He strikes me as trade bait with the addition of sixth-round pick Ty Johnson and considering the role Zach Zenner can play on special teams. But if Riddick stays in Detroit, and new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell uses his skills properly, Riddick has a chance to pass Sanders for receptions by a running back in Lions history. Sanders caught 352 passes for 2,921 yards in his 10-year career. Riddick has 285 catches for 2,238 yards. He caught 61 passes last season and needs 68 receptions this year to pass Sanders for the franchise record.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.