Tag: Justin Jefferson

Vikings offense grades in middle of the pack by CBS Sports

The big question is whether Minnesota’s offensive line can bring the Vikings to the next level.

The Vikings have the skill position talent needed to become one of the best offenses in the NFL, led by Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.

The biggest question will be whether or not the offensive line can improve after Minnesota made investments into it this offseason through the draft.

Jared Dubin over at CBS Sports ranked each team’s offense heading into the 2021 season and the Vikings rank 15th.

Here’s what Dubin wrote about the Vikings:

The Vikings adding Christian Darrisaw to the offensive line was a strong move, but not enough to give them an above-average unit just yet.

Minnesota ranked 11th in total points last season and fourth in yards. Albeit a big part of that had to do with the team playing from behind and having one of the four worst defenses in the league.

To round out the NFC North, the Bears rank 31st, the Lions rank 32nd and the Packers rank third.

Thielen and Jefferson 2 of NFL’s top-10 pass catchers in 2021

The stat is based on catch rate and expected catch rate.

The Vikings, based on catch percentage, have two of the best pass catchers in the NFL.

Next Gen Stats put together a list using catch rate (which is the percentage of targets caught) and expected catch rate (average completion probability when targeted), to determine the top 10 pass catchers in 2020.

Coming in at No. 7 was rookie Justin Jefferson, who had a catch rate of 70.4% and an expected catch rate of 61.3%.

At No. 6 was Jefferson’s veteran teammate, Adam Thielen. Thielen had a catch rate of 68.5% and an expected catch rate of 59.3%.

It’s worth noting that former Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs, now with the Bills, came in at No. 2 on the list.

The only other team with two players in the top-10 were the Green Bay Packers. The Packers had wide receiver Davante Adams come in at No. 4 and tight end Robert Tonyan come in at No. 1.

You can check out the full list here.

Vikings predicted to have a top-10 offense in 2021

The Vikings finished fourth in total offensive yards last season.

The Vikings have plenty of pieces offensively to be one of the most productive units in the league. There’s Dalvin Cook at running back, Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson at wide receiver, Irv Smith Jr. at tight end, and Kirk Cousins at quarterback.

This unit ranked fourth in total yards last season and 11th in points scored.

Cynthia Frelund over at NFL.com projects the Vikings will have the eighth-best offense in the NFL in 2021.

Here’s what Frelund wrote about the Vikings:

Don’t sleep on the Vikings this season. The addition of Christian Darrisaw with the No. 23 pick last month addressed a real problem that matters for this style of offense and how Kirk Cousins executes it. Minnesota ranked 23rd last season when it came to its rate of sacks per pass attempt (7.6%). Basically, when defenses had a good sense the Vikings were passing, pressure increased and Minnesota’s efficiency went down. One way to see this is that the Vikings ranked 16th on third down (40.9 percent conversation rate) despite having the third-most earned first downs per game (23.9). With a rushing average of 4.9 yards per attempt (fourth in the NFL) and a passing figure of 8.3 yards per attempt (second), the Vikes were creating the right opportunities and making the most of them, just not keeping the sequencing efficient enough.

The only other NFC North team on the list are the Packers at No. 3. Of course, if the Packers lose Aaron Rodgers, it’s safe to say that they would fall off this list.

You can check out Frelund’s full top-10 list here.

PFF ranks Vikings wide receivers Adam Thielen, Justin Jefferson as top 10 wideouts

The Minnesota Vikings have two star wide receivers: Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson.

Minnesota is thin at several positions on offense and defense. Wide receiver is one of those positions.

The Vikings don’t have a stellar wide receiver three. At least the team has two of the best wideouts in the NFL at the top of the depth chart, according to Pro Football Focus.

PFF ranked Adam Thielen the No. 9 receiver in the NFL, while giving Justin Jefferson the 10th overall ranking. Here’s what Anthony Treash of PFF wrote about Thielen:

“Thielen bounced back to top-tier form after an injury-hindered 2019 season. He came away from 2020 with an 87.4 PFF grade that ranked sixth among NFL wide receivers, marking the third time in the past four years he has finished inside the top 10 in that metric.”

Jefferson is coming off a rookie campaign where he tallied 1,400 receiving yards and seven touchdown receptions. Here’s what Treash said about the now-second-year wideout:

“Jefferson maintains his No. 2 receiving grade rank against single coverage and jumps to first in yards per target (13.2) on such plays. The NFL landscape thought the days of Minnesota having a top receiving tandem were over when the franchise traded away Stefon Diggs in the 2020 offseason, but Jefferson is poised to keep the tradition going.”

Minnesota needs a lot to go its way in order to achieve a bounce-back season. The Vikings will most likely have to rely heavily on Jefferson and Thielen in order to maintain their offensive success. If those two stay healthy, though, the sky is the limit.

Cincinnati Bengals Schedule: Joe Burrow’s return

Cincinnati’s open opener week one against the Minnesota Vikings should be the return of Joe Burrow, if all goes according to plan.

Cincinnati Bengals fans have been waiting patiently for the 2021 NFL season. Last year, Bengals fans had to watch the future of their franchise go down with an ugly season ending injury.

This season fans will be permitted to attend games again, and the excitement in Cincinnati is real.

Joe Burrow has conquered his recovery and rehab, and he is hungry as ever to get back on the field.

Cincinnati’s home opener week one against the Minnesota Vikings should be the return of Joe Burrow, if all goes according to plan.

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The Vikings have been an up and down team for the better part of the past few seasons. They’ve made the playoffs in two seasons with Kirk Cousins behind center, yet last season they started the season quite slow and struggled to play the consistent football needed to bounce back.

The Vikings matchup in week one will also see Joe Burrow meet up with his old friend, Justin Jefferson.

Jefferson was not only the best rookie wide receiver in the NFL last season, he was one of the best overall receivers in the entire league.

All eyes will be on Joe Burrow in this matchup, but we should also keep a close eye on how the Bengals utilize rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase in his first career NFL game.

The Bengals wide receiver corps should have success against a struggling Minnesota secondary, and this is one of the many reasons why I think Burrow could have a nice day in his return.

A week one win would go a long way for this young Bengals team, as confidence will be crucially important early on. The Bengals schedule isn’t particularly favorable as betting odds don’t have them favored in many matchups as of right now.

It’s tough to call a week one game a must win game, but a win here would certainly be the start Joe Burrow and the Bengals will need this season.

Vikings vs. Bengals in Week 1 features Justin Jefferson vs. Ja’Marr Chase

Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow will reunite in Week 1 for Minnesota Vikings vs. Cincinnati Bengals.

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The LSU band is about to get back together in Week 1.

With the 2021 NFL schedule slowly getting rolled out, we now know the Cincinnati Bengals will play host to the Minnesota Vikings to kick off the season.

Which means Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow will reunite not only with fifth overall pick Ja’Marr Chase, but also spar with former target Justin Jefferson of the Vikings.

While gunning for a title in 2019 at LSU, Chase led the Tigers in receiving at 1,780 yards and 20 scores. But thanks to Burrow, Jefferson wasn’t far behind at 1,540 yards and 18 scores.

As a rookie, Jefferson stunned on his way to 1,400 yards and seven scores, averaging 15.9 yards per catch with seven 100-yard performances.

Now it all comes full circle at Paul Brown Stadium in Week 1. The Bengals, who appear on schedule to have Burrow back from his rehab in time for the game, hope Chase can follow a similar trajectory as Jefferson and uplift the entire offense.

It turns out that is the second biggest storyline behind Burrow’s return in Week 1, where we’ll see pretty quickly if Chase can follow a similar path as Jefferson by taking on Mike Zimmer’s defense in his debut.

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Justin Jefferson ready to put the NFL on notice in year 2

Justin Jefferson had an historic rookie season for the Vikings, and many would say it’ll be tough to top what he accomplished in year one.

Former LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson came into the leauge last season without high expectations. Jefferson was selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, with the 22nd overall selection.

Expectations for players drafted outside of the top-15 are much different than those drafted at the top of the draft, especially top-5.

Many believed Jefferson could be a nice compliment to Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen and running back Dalvin Cook. After the Vikings traded Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills, a wide receiver was a need for them heading into last years draft.

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Enter Justin Jefferson.

Not only did Jefferson exceed expectations in year one, but he also ended up setting numerous Minnesota Vikings and NFL all-time records.

In year two, the expectations for Jefferson will be much, much different. The league has now seen how talented a player Jefferson is. Defenders will challenge Jefferson in a new way, a more physically demanding way, and he will have to adjust accordingly.

Judging from how he’s approached the offseason, I’d say he’s up for the challenge.

In the clip above, Jefferson’s routes look even crisper than they did a year ago. His route-running is among the best in the game and he’s not slowing down. His quickness and change of direction is as elite as you’ll see on a football field.

Justin Jefferson had an historic rookie season for the Vikings, and many would say it’ll be tough to top what he accomplished in year one.

I think he’s up for it.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson said he will attend OTAs

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson will attend OTAs, he told reporters.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, players on NFL teams across the league have opted not to attend voluntary spring workouts.

The Vikings are among the teams who are expected to have people not in attendance, players announced earlier this offseason.

Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson will be going, however. Jefferson told reporters Tuesday that not only will he be going, but most players on the team are attending.

“We all thought it was going to be a good idea to get a quick start to really build that connection again,” Jefferson said, per Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press.

Jefferson is coming off a rookie season where he tallied 1,400 receiving yards and seven touchdown receptions in 2020. If he can build off of that in 2021, then Minnesota may be looking at another season with a top NFL offense. Now, it’s up to the defense to improve.

Vikings select WR Chris Olave in way-too-early 2022 mock draft

As a junior in 2020, Olave finished with 729 yards and seven touchdowns in just seven games.

It’s never too early for a mock draft. Well, actually it might be considering we just had the 2021 NFL Draft, but here we are.

In Ryan Wilson’s way-too-early 2022 mock draft over at CBS Sports, Wilson has the Minnesota Vikings drafting 13th overall. With that pick, the Vikings take Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave.

Here’s what Wilson wrote about the pick:

Olave had some 1st/2nd-round buzz after a stellar 2020 season, but he decided to return to school where he’ll be one of the top receivers heading into the fall.

As a junior in 2020, Olave finished with 729 yards and seven touchdowns in just seven games.

The Vikings have a pretty strong one-two punch at wide receiver right now with Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, but beyond that, there’s not much for depth. Plus, Thielen is 30 years old and had just 925 receiving yards last season, his lowest amount in playing 15 or more games since 2015.

The NFL draft prospects drawing comparisons to current and former Vikings players

See which NFL draft prospects are drawing comparisons to current and former Minnesota Vikings players.

Player comparisons are a complicated ordeal.

Everyone wants to compare a draft prospect to a Hall of Famer, or at least a player who has had a stellar career. However, the odds that a given draft prospect will go on to make the Hall of Fame isn’t incredibly likely.

So player comparisons are tough. No one wants to draft someone drawing comparisons to a bust, but it’s a given that some of these players will not have long careers in the league.

With that under consideration, our friends at Touchdown Wire set out to do something very difficult: Give a player comparison for many of the top draft prospects in the 2021 NFL draft and explain why.

Here are the prospects that can be compared to current and former Vikings players, according to Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield of Touchdown Wire: