Feb 4, 2022; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports.
Forget Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, and Cooper Kupp. Minnesota Vikings third-year wideout Justin Jefferson is forecasted by oddsmakers to lead the NFL in receiving yards.
Jefferson has tallied more receiving yards in his first two seasons than any player in NFL history with 3,016. And according to Vegas — a place that usually has a method to its madness — Jefferson’s intoxicating pace will continue.
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Per BetOnline.ag, Jefferson has a receiving yards total over-under of 1,325.5 yards heading into 2022, the largest figure leaguewide. He’s also predicted to record 100.5 catches and 10 touchdowns.
Cooper Kupp, who led NFL wide receivers in everything last year, is the closest to Jefferson for such prop bets at 1,300.5 receiving yards.
Jefferson isn’t the frontrunner for touchdown odds, though. Kupp, Mike Evans, Davante Adams, and Ja’Marr Chase have higher touchdown over-unders. Evans is captain consistent down in Tampa Bay, Adams will try on new NFL apparel in 2022, and Chase is Jefferson’s LSU teammate who took the league by storm as a rookie.
The chunky stat predictions from Jefferson arrive as the Vikings pivot to a new offense. Minnesota employed a “defense coach” for eight years in Mike Zimmer, transitioning to the offense-happy Kevin O’Connell in 2022. O’Connell helped foster Kupp’s herculean season in Los Angeles with a little help from Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford during a championship season for the Rams. Oddsmakers evidently believe some of the Rams shine will grace Jefferson and the Vikings this September.
Jefferson has history stacked against him just a bit. Unbelievably, from Sammy White, Ahmad Rashad, Anthony Carter, Cris Carter, Jake Reed, Randy Moss, Percy Harvin, Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, to Jefferson — no Vikings wideout has ever led the NFL in receiving yards. If Jefferson fulfills the BetOnline prophecy in 2022, he’ll be the first Viking ever to lead the NFL in receiving yards during a single season.
In eight years under Zimmer, the Vikings ranked 28th in total pass attempts. With O’Connell on the Rams coaching staff in 2020 and 2021 as offensive coordinator, Los Angeles threw the ball the ninth-most. In that regard, the trend is fruitful for Jefferson.
Jefferson turned 23 in June.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).