Justin Jefferson’s All-Time Record Is Sagging
For the first five seasons of his career, Justin Jefferson has been nothing short of the most impressive young wide receiver the NFL has ever seen. The Minnesota Vikings made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league, and he broke records on a near-weekly basis.
Justin Jefferson owns the NFL all-time receiving yardage per game record, but Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is making it tough.
Although his career is still in its relative infancy, Jefferson already owned an all-time record coming into 2025. Through 77 games, his 96.5 yards per game average ranks number one all-time. He came just 191 yards short of 2,000 in 2022, and he has twice averaged more than 105 yards per game in a season.
Justin Jefferson Needs Better QB Play to Keep Past Standard of Living
Fast forward to where things are now, and J.J. McCarthy is singlehandedly tanking his superstar wide receiver. Across 10 games this season, Jefferson has averaged just 74.7 yards per game. The only reason that number isn’t lower is that Jefferson got closer to his career average while Carson Wentz was under center.
Now 87 games into his NFL career, Jefferson’s yards per game average has dipped to 94.0. That’s a change of 2.5 yards per game in just 10 games. Of course, that’s a sizable shift, and it’s something that won’t get better as long as McCarthy is airmailing passes all over the place.
There are still plenty of legs left in Jefferson’s career. Puka Nacua is second all-time with 89.9 yards per game, and Ja’Marr Chase owns an 87.3 yards per game average. Those players would need to take sizable leaps on their own to catch Jefferson. While the Vikings star earns no favors from his man under cente,r though, things get dicey.
The reality is that both Jefferson and McCarthy need much better versions of each other the rest of the way. In games McCarthy has played, Jefferson has yardage totals of 44, 81, 47, 37, and 61. In just two of McCarthy’s starts has he gotten his top wide receiver to clear 50 yards. Overseas, Wentz hooked up with Jefferson for 249 yards in just a pair of contests.
It’s becoming painfully obvious that the superstar wideout is frustrated. He’s disappointed in the opportunities he’s being given, and the quality of chances directed his way is lackluster at best. That has resulted in a lack of consistency, which has manifested in occasional outbursts as well.
This is not the Jefferson Vikings fans have come to know. It’s not the one that will be comfortable sticking around if things don’t change for the better, either.
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