By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Chad Johnson celebrates the Bengals' only touchdown against the Denver Broncos Sunday. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

The ink is faded and smudged in places, but the newspaper remains in good condition considering where it has been kept.

Chad Johnson pulls the paper from his locker and, like the dog-eared pages of a good novel, the Bengals receiver thumbs to the spot he wishes to reference.

On facing pages are stories about Terrell Owens and Marvin Harrison, two of the NFL's best wide receivers.

"That's No. 1 and No. 2 in the league right now," Johnson says, pointing to the stat boxes that accompany the stories. "And I've got them by far in my second year. Since people want to base everything off numbers, I'm on pace to do even better."

Now in his third NFL season - Johnson led the Bengals with 1,166 receiving yards last year - he wants to go where only one other NFL player has ventured.

And the 25-year-old knows there is much to learn on the way there.

"You might as well chase who they say the best is," he said. "That's what I'm going to do."

After catching six passes for 95 yards in the season opener against the Broncos, Johnson must average 114 yards in the next 15 games to attain his goal.

Oakland's Jerry Rice is the only player to reach 1,800 receiving yards in a season, doing it with San Francisco in 1995.

The two cross paths for the first time when the Bengals visit Oakland on Sunday.

"He set himself apart from everybody else by working hard," Johnson said of Rice, who holds every significant NFL receiving record and is in his 19th season. "He's 40 years old, and he's still out there making young boys look bad. He's dominated the game, which is what I'm trying to do now."

While Rice and Raiders teammate Tim Brown are nearing the ends of their Hall of Fame careers, Johnson is one of a handful of young talented receivers who appear to be on the cusp of stardom.

"How you learn from those guys (like Rice and Brown) is watch what they do in practice, what they do in the offseason and so forth," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "To see them be complete guys, watch them block, watch them run routes, watch them run routes when they don't think they're the No. 1 read. Those are the things you learn from - guys that have played that long and played at such a high level."

Five of the NFL's top 11 receivers after Week 1 - Anquan Boldin, Chris Chambers, Plaxico Burress, Laveranues Coles and Donte' Stallworth - are in no more than their fourth pro season.

Among those receivers now in their third season, only Johnson, Seattle's Koren Robinson (1,240 yards) and Washington's Rod Gardner (1,006 yards) had 1,000 or more receiving yards last season.

Johnson averaged 91 yards in Cincinnati's final 12 games in 2002.

Coaches see the raw talent but know Johnson must clear the hurdle of consistency to be one of the game's elite.

"His consistency level is holding him back from . . . huge, huge days," Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said. "He has to continue to work with the quarterback after practice, working on the routes we might have missed during the week or in practice so we don't miss them on Sundays."

Having a 1,000-yard receiver does lend more flexibility offensively, but it doesn't necessarily translate into more wins.

The Bengals were one of 10 teams last season to have a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver. Of those 10 teams, four made it to the playoffs.

The Raiders didn't have a 1,000-rusher and made it to the Super Bowl. Leading a deep receiving corps, including Brown and fourth-year pro Jerry Porter, was Rice. He caught 92 passes for 1,211 yards.

"Watching him is going to be another learning experience," Johnson said. "I'll be taking things from his game that I can add to mine to make me a better player."

He's in fast company

Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson has set 1,800 yards receiving as his goal this season. Oakland's Jerry Rice, in his 19th NFL season, is the only player in NFL history to reach that mark (1,848 in 1995 with the 49ers). Here's a look at each player's first two seasons in the NFL.

CHAD JOHNSON

	REC	YDS	TD
2001	28	329	1
2002	69	1,166	5
Totals	97	1,495	6

JERRY RICE

	REC	YDS	TD
1985	49	927	3
1986	86	1,570	15
Totals	135	2,497	18

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Mark Curnutte contributed.

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