Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has taken the league by storm since being selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. In no time flat, he has ascended to the top of the league at his position, dominating week in and week out as defenses don’t seem to have any plan for how to slow him down.
Despite turning only 24 years old in June, Justin Jefferson has already made a strong case as to why he is the No. 1 wide receiver in the NFL. It should come as no surprise that executives, coaches and scouts who were polled by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler for positional power rankings landed on the LSU product for the No. 1 spot.
Justin Jefferson has rewrote the NFL record book in his first three seasons and will likely take down a few more if he keeps up this pace. The 4,825 receiving yards he has in his first three seasons is the most in NFL history and the 196 receptions is tied for the most along with Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions and Michael Thomas of the New Orleans Saints.
With back-to-back seasons of 1,600+ yards, Justin Jefferson joined an elusive club that included only Calvin Johnson Jr. and Antonio Brown previously. In the opinion of one executive that took part in the voting, there isn’t a team in the NFL he wouldn’t fit on as he is the complete package.
“You can put him in all 32 offenses, and he will produce and fit in seamlessly,” an NFC executive said. “Most consistent, most complete, the ability to separate, has a knack to make the play when it needs to be made, shows up in big moments. The game is just really natural to him. Can beat doubles and can work inside or out.”
The scariest part about Justin Jefferson is that he isn’t even close to his prime. There is a chance this isn’t even the best that we will see from him as he still could be developing his skill set and repertoire.
It is hard to imagine how much more dominant he can be as he was head and shoulders above his peers in some categories in 2022. His 413 yards above expectation led wide receivers by 123 yards and his 643 yards at the catch led the league as well.
Wrestling with bigger cornerbacks in press coverage was the one weakness that Justin Jefferson may have according to evaluators. But, even that advantage for the defense doesn’t last too long, as he is praised for his intelligence and relentlessness to figure out how to beat it by the second half of games getting underway.
