It certainly didn't take Justin Jefferson long to become one of the top wide receivers in the NFL after the Minnesota Vikings made him the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, earning a trip to the Pro Bowl as well as Second-Team All-Pro honors after setting new franchise records with 88 receptions and 1,400 receiving yards.
From a technical standpoint, those 1,400 yards were the most by a rookie in NFL history. But as the league absorbed all AFL statistics when the 1970 merger went down, Bill Groman's 1,473 yards for the Houston Oilers in 1960 stood as the official mark at that time. The Los Angeles Rams' Puka Nacua set the new standard in 2023 with 1,486 yards.
Despite falling short of the rookie record, however, Jefferson has since set new marks for the most receiving yards through two seasons (3,016), three seasons (4,825), four seasons (5,899), and five seasons (7,432).
He's also one of only four players with 1,000 receiving yards in each of their first five seasons, the other members of that exclusive club being Randy Moss, A.J. Green, and Mike Evans. And all of that is with Jefferson missing seven games during the 2023 campaign.
Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson in danger of falling short of NFL record
Coming into this 2025 season, the four-time Pro Bowler needed just 944 yards to surpass Moss for the most receiving yards through six seasons. And with another 1,000-yard campaign, he'd become just the third to hit the mark in his first six years, joining Moss and Evans (Green fell 36 yards shy for the Bengals in 2016).
Now, on the condition that Jefferson stayed healthy, it was easy to assume that he would have absolutely zero issues hitting these marks. And as he has indeed stayed healthy and appeared in all 14 of the Vikings' games thus far, one would assume he'd already hit by now.
But that's simply not the case, as the 26-year-old has had his least productive season by far, currently sitting on 66 receptions for 832 yards, while averaging a career-low 59.4 yards per game.
The blame doesn't fall on him, of course, as Minnesota's quarterback situation has, for the most part, been a disaster.
It's interesting to note, though, that Jefferson's only two 100-yard games this season occurred when Carson Wentz was in the lineup, as he tallied 126 yards on 10 catches in Week 4 in Dublin against the Pittsburgh Steelers and 123 yards on seven catches in London in Week 5 against the Cleveland Browns.
For whatever reason, he and J.J. McCarthy just haven't clicked yet. Seriously, for all the great throws McCarthy made against the Dallas Cowboys this past Sunday, he overthrew Jefferson a ridiculous amount of times. And that's just one game.
In the eight games McCarthy has started, Jefferson has averaged 43.9 yards per game. That four-yard outing against the Seahawks with Max Brosmer under center wasn't a good look either. But that was a bad day for everyone.
With the Vikings now officially eliminated from playoff contention, they legit need to make it a priority to get Jefferson the 112 yards he needs to break Moss' six-season record and the 168 yards he needs to reach 1,000. Because of everything Minnesota has gone through with McCarthy's struggles, Jefferson has been nothing but supportive of his young quarterback.
Get this done, Vikings. Your franchise player deserves it.