Dec 23, 2019; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Hall of Fame wide receiver and Minnesota Viking former player Cris Carter looks on prior to a game between the Vikings and the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium.
It’s a dead period in the NFL between mandatory minicamp and the start of training camps. Players are enjoying their final weeks off work before the regular grind of an NFL season begins. Their next true break will be after the season’s conclusion in January or February. During that time, rankings are the big theme in NFL media, but some of them are just head-scratchers.
Hall of Famer Cris Carter didn’t like what he heard on ESPN’s show, ‘Keyshawn, JWill, and Max.’ Keyshawn Johnson, former NFL wide receiver and first overall pick in 1996, ranked his top wideouts in the business. And guess who didn’t appear on his list? Correct, it was Justin Jefferson, the league leader in receptions and receiving yards, a player who is setting record after record.
Johnson’s rankings:
How is that even possible? One argument in those rankings can be that a player hasn’t done it long enough and needs to prove again that he’s worth joining the club. But that is not the case here. Chase has played one fewer season than JJ, and through two seasons, Jefferson was more productive. The Viking is also leading the league in yards since he came into the league with 4,825. That’s almost 400 more yards than Adams, who is second, exactly 600 more yards than Hill, and almost 1,400 more yards than Brown. So Jefferson is certainly not the guy who needs to prove more.
Another reason could be the lack of touchdown grabs. While Jefferson is breaking records in yards, his touchdown numbers don’t belong to the elite group in the league. However, he had more scores than Hill last year, who conveniently ranked at the top. So what is it? Is it the lack of team success? Well, Adams and his Raiders missed the playoffs in 2022.
Host Max Kellerman even doubled down:
So for me, I’d probably put Jefferson at four or five. Because he is so productive. You know guys like Jefferson and Cooper Kupp, I agree with you, even if it’s the system or whatever else, when they are in the right situation, they are going to get a million catches, a million yards, a million touchdowns.
Max Kelleman
A product of the system? Jefferson has played in two different systems under three different offensive coordinators without a superstar quarterback. And guess what? It worked. He isn’t a part of the system. He is the system. Opponents sell out to stop him, leaving everyone else on an island, and the Viking still led the league in yards and receptions. He is not schemed open as often as other guys. He is just beating his defenders regularly.
The disrespect is really inexplicable, and even Vikings legend Carter tweeted about the list:
Time to turn the channel is also what ESPN thought, as the show is reportedly getting scrapped from the ESPN program soon.
Jefferson is just coming off a season with 1,809 receiving yards, the sixth-most all-time, and 128 catches, the seventh-most ever. He led the league in both categories as the youngest player ever, breaking Don Hutson’s 86-year-old record. Both numbers were also franchise records, topping the previous marks from Carter and Randy Moss. That is some decent company for the 24-year-old.
If someone wants to hold the 17th game against Jefferson, it should be noted that the five listed receivers also had that game, and Jefferson still beat them. In addition, he is the all-time leader in receiving yards per game with 96.4, which is 8.4 higher than Julio Jones, who ranks second.
There is not much more Jefferson can do. He added some incredible plays to his highlight reel in 2022, so that can’t be a problem. He had the top mark in a single game last season when he dropped a franchise-record 223 yards against the Lions.
The good thing is that Johnson’s opinion is an outlier. Jefferson is widely regarded as the top guy at his position, and at worst, he is ranked second. There is a reason why he was a finalist for the MVP as the only non-quarterback and won Offensive Player of the Year in addition to his appearance in the first-team All-Pro and the third straight Pro Bowl.
Jefferson is set to break another record, as he is fully expected to sign a new record-breaking deal to become the highest-paid wideout in the NFL at some point during the summer.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt