Justin Jefferson Breaks Another Randy Moss Receiving Record

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Justin Jefferson
Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Things didn’t go the Minnesota Vikings’ way on Thursday Night Football against the Los Angeles Rams. Head coach Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings dropped their second straight game, and it wasn’t pretty on either side of the football.

But that doesn’t mean there weren’t some impressive individual performances. Virtually every time Justin Jefferson steps on the football field he is capable of doing something amazing. He’s also capable, any given Sunday, to break another receiving record.

JJ has has put himself all over both the Vikings and National Football League record books, during his first 4.5 years in the NFL. Many of the records he has broken were held by another Minnesota Vikings receiving legend, Randy Moss. And on Thursday night, Jefferson added another ‘fastest to X benchmark in NFL history’.

Justin Jefferson continues his greatness for Minnesota Vikings

This time, with his second 100-yard game of the season, Justin Jefferson recorded his 31st such performance of his young NFL career, surplanting Moss with the most 100-yard games before the age of 26.

Jefferson is just seven games into his fifth season, and he won’t turn 26 until
 next season. That’s right, every 100-yard game JJ records the rest of this season will only pad his lead on Moss, and the other legendary receivers on this list, which includes names like Larry Fitzgerald, Odell Beckham Jr, Mike Evans and Julio Jones.

Through the first 67 games of his career, Jefferson’s 97.7 yards per game average is an all-time NFL record. Since the moment Minnesota took Justin Jefferson in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft he has been a superstar. There was no real developmental curve, and he only seems to keep getting better. The only thing that ever JJ back was former head coach Mike Zimmer, who inexplicably did not start him for the first two games of his rookie season.

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The scarier part for future Minnesota Vikings opponents? Justin Jefferson isn’t likely to slow down any time soon. No. 18 has helped to elevate the play of Sam Darnold this season. Next year, the hope is that he will help expedite the development of currently injured 1st round pick, JJ McCarthy.

Jefferson is doing it all, all at once

Justin Jefferson is flying up the Minnesota Vikings receiving leaderboard, as well. Thursday put the former LSU superstar ahead of Vikings receiving great, Jake Reed, for 5th place in franchise history, in total receiving yards.

At this pace (6,545 yards), Jefferson will be the 2nd most prolific Vikings wide receiver of all time, by the halfway point of his career. He now needs under 2,800 yards to surpass Moss’ 9,316. Cris Carter sits atop the all-time Vikings receiving leaderboard, at 12,383 yards. And look how many less games JJ has played


RkPlayerFromToGPosTgtRecYdsY/RTDR/GY/G
1Cris Carter19902001188WR149810041238312.31105.365.9
2Randy Moss19982010113WR1012587931615.9925.282.4
3Anthony Carter19851993133WR187478763616.0523.657.4
4Adam Thielen20142022135WR776534668212.5554.049.5
5Justin Jefferson2020202467WR636433654515.1356.597.7
6Jake Reed19912001134WR770413643315.6333.148.0
7Sammy White19761985128WR393640016.3503.150.0
8Steve Jordan19821994176TE121498630712.7282.835.8
9Ahmad Rashad1976198298WR400548913.7344.156.0
10Stefon Diggs2015201970WR534365462312.7305.266.0
Minnesota Vikings All-Time Receiving Leaders (Pro-Football-Reference)

For some odd reason the folks at EA Sports didn’t get the memo that Jefferson is the best wideout in the league. He wasn’t originally a 99 overall when Madden NFL 25 dropped this summer. That has been corrected with the weekly roster update, and it was Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson that presented him with the honor.

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Whether it’s on the actual gridiron or the virtual one, everything Jefferson does winds up being spectacular. He can’t play defense, and he won’t be taking over for Christian Darrisaw, but he can be a reason the Vikings get back on track moving forward.

Right now Minnesota Vikings fans are watching a generational talent set a new bar every time he steps on the field. It’s really quite amazing.

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