Since arriving with the Minnesota Vikings as a rookie in 2020, Justin Jefferson has established himself as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Despite a slight drop-off during what he has admitted has been a frustrating season, his career per-game yardage average (94.4 entering Sunday) remains a league record.
Jefferson is also hitting historical marks along the way in his career. In 2023, despite missing seven games that season, he set the league record for receiving yards in a player's first four seasons (5,899). Last year, he set the same record for a player's first five seasons (7,432).
Jefferson added to his historical marks earlier this season. Against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 8, he became the fastest player in NFL history to reach 8,000 career receiving yards, doing so in his 84th game. He also became the third player in league history, joining Randy Moss and Torry Holt, with at least 8,000 receiving yards in the first six seasons of a career.
With 10 games to go in his second season at that point, Jefferson had ample time to pursue the precise yardage marks Holt and Moss had over their respective first six seasons.
Justin Jefferson continued march toward record he'll inevitably own
Jefferson entered Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears with 8,118 career receiving yards. On his third catch of the game, a 27-yarder, he passed Holt for the second-most receiving yards in a player's first six seasons.
Jefferson finished the game on Sunday with five catches for 61 yards, mostly in the first half. So he's at 8,179 career yards, with seven games to go in his sixth season.
Moss, as Vikings fans are surely somewhat aware since he did it in Purple, holds the NFL record for receiving yards in someone's first six seasons (8,375).
So Jefferson needs 197 yards over the final seven games of this season to top Moss for the most receiving yards in the first six seasons of a career. That's an average of 28.1 yards per game, so he should get there with a few full games left to pad his hold on the record as others start to threaten it down the road.
Jefferson will definitely lament getting to these career yardage marks in games that end up as losses for the Vikings.
But if the team's playoff hopes fade as they seem set to in the coming weeks, Jefferson's pursuit of Moss and where he takes the receiving yardage record over a player's first six seasons will be something for Vikings fans to be interested in.