The 2025 season was clearly the worst in the career of Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson. His third 100-yard game of the season in Week 18 allowed him to extend his streak of 1,000-yard seasons to six. The idea that he is "quarterback-proof" took a huge hit, at least until we had more information.
The arrival of Kyler Murray, or what will automatically be a better version of J.J. McCarthy if it comes to that, is good news for Jefferson's rebound chances this season. Frankly, it can't get worse than it was last year.
On Thursday, Pete Prisco of CBS Sports released his annual ranking of the top-100 players in the NFL. Jefferson is the only Viking to make the list, as could've been expected, and he comes in at No. 8.
"He was hurt by poor quarterback play last year, but he remains the most talented receiver in the game", Prisco wrote. "He had 84 catches and only two touchdowns last season. Kyler Murray should help his numbers this year."
Analyst takes ludicrous stance against Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson
During a follow-up segment on CBS Sports Network this week, analyst Leger Douzable clearly disagreed with where Prisco has Jefferson on his top-100 list.
"I think it's too high. I love J.J.... quarterback issues, obviously; J.J. McCarthy really struggled at quarterback."
Disagreeing with where Prisco has Jefferson ranked is fine, and Douzable didn't offer a huge revelation when he said McCarthy "really struggled" last season. But then, he lost the plot completely.
"When I look over the last two seasons, and you look at the receivers that are No. 1 and 2 in receiving yards, you have Ja'Marr Chase and JSN [Jaxson Smith-Njigba]. Well, they've had to deal with different quarterbacks, and yet their production is still through the roof."
Douzable then noted how Smith-Njigba has had Geno Smith and Sam Darnold as his quarterbacks in the last two seasons, and how there was "not a lot of continuity" there. Yes, Smith was fine in 2024, and Darnold turned out to be an upgrade last season.
Jefferson would have loved to have had the 2024 version of Smith at any point last season. And, of course, he had the 2024 version of Darnold on his way to over 1,500 yards and 10 touchdowns that season.
Douzable also noted how Chase, the only wide receiver above Jefferson in Prisco's ranking, was without Joe Burrow for nine games last season. He also had the still-capable Joe Flacco for six of those games, and that's another level of quarterback play Jefferson wished he would've had.
Douzable finished his thought line about Jefferson in the expected fashion.
"Now, J.J.'s still a really good player. I just don’t think he's a top 2 receiver in football anymore. I think [No.] 8's a little bit too high on this list."
There can be a viable debate about whether Jefferson is the second-best wide receiver in the NFL, as Prisco has him ranked, entering the 2026 season.
But Douzable lost his angle when he tried to apply his different quarterbacks rationale with equal context in comparison to Chase and Smith-Njigba, as if Jefferson had someone like Darnold or Flacco throwing him the ball last season. Anyone who paid attention knows that was hardly the case.
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