After one of the quietest games of his career, the talk around Justin Jefferson should be at its loudest. In Minnesota’s win over the Tennessee Titans, Jefferson broke the NFL receiving yards record for most yards in the first five years of a career. He topped the list of elite Hall of Famers Torry Holt, Randy Moss, and Jerry Rice and achieved the feat halfway through his fifth year.
Greatness is usually hard to understand when you’re witnessing the apotheosis of it. Between context, comparison, and a league with many marketing campaigns, it’s easy for fans to forget about Jefferson’s monumental accomplishments. That same shuffling of statistics and figures hampers appreciating a Hall of Fame moment. Jefferson repeatedly proves his play is from a bygone era while trailblazing a new generation of greats.
Last year, Jefferson only played in 10 of a possible 17 games in a season plagued by critical injuries and shuffling of the quarterback position. Still, he found a way to finish the year above the 1,000-yard mark on 68 receptions, netting an average of 107 yards per game.
That type of production through turmoil places No. 18 at a different echelon than the rest of his peers. When you consider that he’s only played 68 games, he’s etching his name in the history books at a faster clip than anyone in history.
The point? Jefferson’s latest record should not begin and end with a midgame CBS graphic.
Jefferson is sitting at 96.3 receiving yards per game on average, which is another NFL record. He has single-handedly changed how modern defenses approach trying to limit the damage. Opponents can’t play bump-and-run on him, nor can they rely on a single-high look to be a blanket in case Jefferson is running a longer-developing route. However, they also can’t sit in a shell all day when he’s on the field.
Opponents constantly use bracket coverage against Jefferson. Teams are fine passing over whoever’s in the slot to a linebacker in a shallow zone rather than not having at least two sets of eyes on No. 18. It’s the treatment you don’t see all too often in today’s game.
Bracket coverage can create frustrating days between the numbers. The Vikings can’t expect Jefferson to overcome coverage from two to three defensive backs every week. That’s where Jefferson’s most redeeming quality comes into play: His selflessness has been a spark that has allowed him to impact the locker room when opponents lock him down on the field.
Receivers are often divas, but Jefferson is far from that. Last week, he was asked about his impact on defensive gameplans to attack the Vikings’ offense.
Jefferson’s answer said everything you needed to know if he ever faced a slow production day. “It’s either let everybody else go off,” Jefferson said, “or let Justin go off.”
Sometimes, it’s that simple. Jordan Addison finished last Sunday’s victory over the Chicago Bears with a career-high 162 yards on eight catches and a touchdown. Meanwhile, T.J. Hockenson had his first breakout game since his injury, with 114 yards on seven catches. Addison and Hockenson contributed in massive moments down the stretch.
Jefferson’s sense of leverage is second to none and pivotal to his blazing first five seasons in the league. In addition to being able to line up anywhere on the field, Jefferson stacks defenders with swift hips, even if the coverage is soft, creating leverage that leads to his separation.
The deep out highlights this technique. In the clip below, Jefferson is gearing up to show something inside. That stacks the defensive back, who’s concerned about a deep post or dagger concept, only for Jefferson to swing it outside. At that point, it’s the easiest throw-and-catch you can complete because of the separation he created.
With every safety shadowing Jefferson to cap his route, he responds by getting upfield for his blocking assignment on an inside zone run. Jefferson is a total team player who competes for the man next to him while being the best at what he does by a wide margin. He’s the definition of a blue-chip player.
Justin Jefferson is this generation’s Randy Moss. Vikings fans have caught on, but the nationwide discourse must acknowledge that they’re watching a future Hall of Famer play at the highest level. Jefferson has somehow made breaking records so routine that it goes unnoticed.
