Fantasy football: Where to draft Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson

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Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson has been extremely productive all throughout his career, although injuries and poor QB play in 2023 put a dent in his stats.

However, despite the fact QB Kirk Cousins — who is now with the Atlanta Falcons — went down early last season, and Jefferson suffered a right hamstring injury to miss 7 games, he still managed a 4th 1,000-yard campaign in as many NFL seasons. In fact, his 15.8 yards per reception, despite working with a mix of QBs Joshua Dobbs, Jaren Hall and Nick Mullens, was still the 2nd-best mark of his career.

Jefferson will get another new starting signal-caller, as QB Sam Darnold looks to resurrect his career in the Twin Cities. Darnold was viewed a potential bridge to QB J.J. McCarthy, but the latter suffered a season-ending torn meniscus injury which required surgery.

Jefferson has had to adjust to many different QBs, and some less-talented signal-callers, in the past year. He has still found a way to excel. Below, we look at Justin Jefferson’s 2024 fantasy football average draft position (ADP) and where you should draft him.

As we head into the 2024 season, Jefferson is still considered a high-impact WR1 in all fantasy formats.

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Justin Jefferson’s ADP: 8.37

(ADP data courtesy of MyFantasyLeague.com; last updated at time of this publishing – ADPs continually change as more drafts occur)

Jefferson’s 8.37 ADP in redraft formats makes him a top-notch WR1 and slam-dunk 1st-round fantasy pick in all leagues. If he somehow was to slide into Round 2 on draft day, it would be a complete stunner, and it is just too much overthinking by the entire league.

Jefferson’s ADP ranks him 4th among wideouts. The receivers picked in front of him include Tyreek Hill (Miami Dolphins, 3.89), Amon-Ra St. Brown (Detroit Lions, 6.55) and Ja’Marr Chase (Cincinnati Bengals, 8.21). Jefferson is going off the board just ahead of A.J. Brown (Philadelphia Eagles, 11.33), Garrett Wilson (New York Jets, 14.97), Marvin Harrison Jr. (Arizona Cardinals, 16.34) and Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams, 16.96).

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Justin Jefferson’s 2023-24 stats

Games: 10

Receptions | targets: 68 | 100

Receiving yards: 1,074

Receiving touchdowns: 5

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Where should you draft Jefferson?

Draft Jefferson high. He is a bonafide WR1 who shouldn’t last past Round 1, even in leagues of 8-10 teams.

All Jefferson does is produce when he is on the field, racking up four 1,000-yard campaigns in as many seasons in the NFL while going for 7 or more scores and at least 1,400 yards in each of his 3 full seasons.

There is a lot of consternation amongst fantasy managers due to the fact he’ll be catching passes from Darnold, which is a severe downgrade from Cousins. But, he managed to be just fine despite a bevy of backups in the Twin Cities in the 2nd half of the season once he returned from injury.

The concerns about QB play are certainly warranted. There are also likely to be some frustration games and stat lines. But, he remains a fantasy start, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon.

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