TEMPE, Ariz. -- Michael Wilson has a date circled on the calendar and it has nothing to do with the Arizona Cardinals' Week 1 opponent.
It's the day the Cards report to training camp in July.
That's when Wilson, entering his fourth season, will turn the page on a successful 2025, during which he reached 1,006 receiving yards, the first time he hit 1,000 yards in his career. Until then, however, he's going to continue basking in the glow of reaching the milestone in the best season of his young professional career.
"I'm not over it yet," Wilson said. "I'm definitely going to enjoy having that 1K going into July 23rd."
Wilson and his production were one of the few highlights for the Cardinals during a dismal 3-14 season that ended with coach Jonathan Gannon getting fired and, a few months later, Kyler Murray getting released. And while being just one of 19 pass catchers last season to eclipse 1,000 yards made last season memorable for Wilson, he appreciates it more because of how he got there.
Through the first five games, Wilson had less-than-pedestrian numbers: eight catches on 18 targets for 52 yards and one touchdown. That's a pace of about 177 yards -- for the entire season. Then in Week 6, Jacoby Brissett replaced an injured Murray and Wilson slowly started ascending. He had 44 yards in Week 6, after a season high of just 16 in Week 5, followed by games of 40, 61 and 34 yards.
Then Week 11 happened.
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With both Marvin Harrison Jr. and Zay Jones out with injuries, Wilson became WR1. Then he lived up to the role.
Wilson had 185 yards on 15 catches in Week 11 at San Francisco, kicking off an impressive four-week run. He followed with performances of 118 yards against Jacksonville, just 36 yards at Tampa Bay but then 142 yards against the Los Angeles Rams for a four-week total of 481 yards, the most in the NFL over that span. He also led the NFL with 56 targets, 39 receptions and receiving yards per game during that four-game stretch.
He finished the year with games of 54, 52, 89 and 99 yards. From Week 11 on, Wilson had the second-most receiving yards and targets, and third-most receptions and routes in the NFL.