Why Justin Jefferson Will Have An All-Time Great Season In 2022

Justin Jefferson’s Utter Dominance

It didn’t take long for Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson to establish himself as one of the best at his position. In 2020, he caught 88 of 125 targets for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns in his rookie year before hauling in a ridiculous 108 of 167 targets for 1,616 yards and 10 scores last season. 

Since entering the league in 2020, Jefferson leads the league with 3,016 yards, which just so happens to be the most receiving yards in a player's first two seasons in NFL history. He also became the first player with 1,400-plus yards in each of his first two seasons. He needs 1,148 yards in 2022 to set the NFL record for most in a player's first three seasons, which seems easily doable given his early production and the new situation he's in looking ahead to 2022.

Within new head coach Kevin O’Connell’s pass-heavy offense (something that’ll be completely new in Minnesota), Jefferson is going to put up insane numbers this season. In fact, he sees himself eclipsing what Cooper Kupp did last year in O’Connell’s offense. 

A New Offense In Minnesota

"Our offensive style, it's not a run-first offense anymore," Jefferson said recently, per NFL.com. "Just us being able to put different people in different positions and distribute the ball, really. I'm so excited in this offense. Us just being in OTAs, learning the plays, going through it with our defense, and stuff.”

"We're all excited. We're all happy to have (O'Connell). It's definitely a different vibe, a different connection in the building with him there. We're just excited to start it up, really. We want to see how this season really turns out for us,” the wideout added.

When appearing on The Ringer NFL Show, Jefferson explained how he can be even more dangerous than Kupp. “Pretty much where Cooper Kupp was at that’s pretty much where I’m at. But my ability to move in different positions is gonna be more,” he said. “I’m able to go in outside. You don’t really see Cooper Kupp lining outside as many times as I would. Or me lining in the backfield, or me just lining up in different positions to get the ball.”

Judging by the fact that the Vikings were very run-heavy over his first two seasons, just imagine what he will be able to do in a pass-heavy system.

Thriving In All Situations 

Pro Football Focus’ Lee Monson recently wrote about Jefferson’s dominance.

“The best three PFF grades when lined up in the slot last season were from Cooper Kupp, Adams and Jefferson, but Jefferson also trails only Adams in grade when lined up on the outside since he entered the league. Against man coverage, Jefferson is once again in the top three, and nobody has a better grade against press coverage."

"When he has faced press coverage — the question teams had about him as a prospect — he has gained 3.27 yards per route run and generated a 129.5 passer rating. He also has nine more explosive plays than any other receiver over the last two seasons in those situations. Jefferson already has elite route-running skills and the ability to defeat aggressive man coverage. He’s also extremely good after the catch, as he has broken 22 tackles after the catch since entering the league,” Monson wrote.

Last season, Jefferson accounted for an NFL-high 45.2% of his team’s air yards, per Next Gen Stats. Also, per NFL.com, averaging 15.4 yards per reception, Jefferson has earned 27.5 percent of his team's targets since 2020. Only Davante Adams (29.7) and Stefon Diggs (27.7) had a higher percentage.

With amazing route-running skills, excellent ball skills and now in the perfect system to explode even more in terms of his individual output, I’m very high on Jefferson this season and think there's a solid chance he puts up never-before-seen numbers as Kirk Cousins' favorite target.

Justin Jefferson Player Props & Exclusive Offers

I’m going to call it now: Jefferson will break Calvin Johnson’s single-season record of 1,964 receiving yards with over 2,000 and will also score over 24 receiving touchdowns, breaking Jerry Rice’s all-time mark of 23. 

Yes, that's bold. But he's that talented.

Take advantage of the Justin Jefferson player props below, accompanied by our exclusive sportsbook offers! And as always, check out our NFL futures odds comparison page for even more opportunities!