Tag: Justin Jefferson

Can Justin Jefferson break the NFL’s rookie record for receiving yards?

If Jefferson has 111 yards in the team’s season finale, he’ll break Anquan Boldin’s record of 1,377 yards set back in 2003.

Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has been one of the best receivers in the NFL this season.

It makes it even more remarkable that he’s a rookie.

On Sunday against the Lions, he could break the league’s rookie record for receiving yards in a season. Currently, Jefferson has 1,267 receiving yards.

If Jefferson has 111 yards in the team’s season finale, he’ll break Anquan Boldin’s record of 1,377 yards set back with the Cardinals in 2003.

To localize it, Jefferson needs 47 yards to break Randy Moss’ rookie franchise record with the Vikings set back in 1998.

How realistic is it that Jefferson will hit that mark?

On the season, Jefferson has eclipsed the 111-yard mark four times. In the team’s matchup against the Lions in Week 8, however, Jefferson was limited to just three catches for 64 yards.

You know that Kirk Cousins and the Vikings’ offense is aware of this record and will do what they can to get Jefferson the ball.

In a game without many storylines, this is something to watch.

Four things to look forward to about the Vikings’ Week 17 game vs. the Lions

It’s not all bad. Here are four things to watch in the Minnesota Vikings’ game vs. the Detroit Lions in Week 17 on Sunday.

Minnesota, despite its inconsistencies, was in playoff contention for most of the year. Postseason hopes didn’t officially end until the team lost to the Saints in Week 16.

Now, the team has a meaningless game in Week 17 against the Lions. There’s an argument to be made that Minnesota should simply rest its starters and start looking towards the offseason and beyond. Do I think they will do that, though? My guess is no.

So, it’s a game that many Vikings fans might avoid, but there are still some things to watch out for on Sunday against the Lions. Need some motivation to watch? Here are four things:

Doug Pederson on Jalen Reagor’s lack of production stemming from ‘learning on the fly’

Doug Pederson on Jalen Reagor’s lack of production stemming from ‘learning on the fly’

Much has been made of the perceived lack of production from the No. 21 overall pick, Jalen Reagor who’ll forever be compared with Vikings star rookie, and No. 22 overall pick Justin Jefferson.

Reagor was one of six wide receivers taken in the first round and through 10 games, the former TCU star has 30 receptions for 381 yards and just one touchdown this season.

Reagor hasn’t topped more than 55 yards in a game, while also missing five games with a thumb injury.

During a recent zoom meeting, Pederson answered a question from Zach Berman of The Athletic, that harped on Reagor’s perceived “lack of production”, blaming it on the pandemic shortened offseason that had everyone “learning on the fly.”

“When you think about a [WR] Jalen Reagor for instance on offense, who didn’t have an off-season and really, we’re throwing him in there and he’s trying to learn on the fly, and it makes it a little more difficult for a guy like that.”

“You’re trying to point the finger in different directions. Obviously, Jalen is a talented guy and a lot of it will fall on us as coaches to prepare our players and get them ready. Then the other half of it falls on the player to get himself prepared and how well he comes in and understands and picks up the offense in this case.

“What was it week 2 against the Rams, is when he got hurt and now, he misses six weeks and now he’s done for six weeks. That growth process, you’re starting to see glimpses of it now, towards the end of the season with him that we were hoping for in weeks 3 and 4 in the regular season but he had the injury and it set him back.”

on Thursday, Reagor said his production “wasn’t enough for the team” while labeling his first season as “a test,” adding that he’s been through a lot that will help build his character.

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ESPN gives a New Year’s resolution for the Vikings

ESPN’s Courtney Cronin thinks that the Minnesota Vikings should commit to using its star wide receivers more often.

Minnesota utilized a run-heavy offense for much of this season, but with how the Vikings receivers played, that doesn’t have to be the case.

Not only did Adam Thielen remain a great option for Kirk Cousins, but rookie receiver Justin Jefferson has emerged as a star.

ESPN’s Courtney Cronin thinks it’s time to get less run-oriented. She listed the Vikings’ ideal New Year’s resolution: “Commit to using star receivers.” Here’s what she wrote:

“The Vikings can absolutely be a run-first team if they want to continue to carry that philosophy into 2021. It’d probably help if they were less predictable, like running less on second down, and one way to execute that is by prioritizing an uptick in usage for Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. Minnesota has two star wideouts who should each be nearing double-digit targets every game and relied on in critical situations, such as two-minute drives and helping the team get back into contention when playing from behind.”

I think Minnesota’s defense will improve in 2020, but it remains to be seen whether or not it will be a top 10 unit in the league. If not, the Vikings offense might have to keep up. Jefferson and Thielen will be a big help.

Fantasy Football Targets, Touches and TDs: Week 17

Reviewing the wild ride that was the 2020 fantasy football season.

Now that we’ve reached the end of Fantasy 2020 in the majority of leagues, it’s the perfect time to revisit the beginning.

In the final installment of TT&T this season, we’re taking a look back at this past summer’s fantasy drafts to Monday morning quarterback the best and worst consensus picks from each of the first five rounds. We’re also shining the spotlight on some of the true league winners: The hidden, high-scoring gems unearthed in the later rounds who wound up producing at early-round starter levels.

For our purposes here, we’re using MyFantasyLeague.com average draft position data for 12-team point-per-reception redraft leagues conducted July 1 or later.

Round 1 (ADP 1-12)

Best pick: Alvin Kamara (ADP 5, RB4)

With the consensus first four selections (Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott and Michael Thomas) all winding up underperforming and/or missing most of the season due to injury, Kamara was the first first-round pick who wound up living up to his lofty billing.

It was a triumphant, bounce-back season for Kamara, who wound up pacing fantasy’s most important position (running backs) and all non-quarterbacks with 377.8 total fantasy points. It was capped, of course, by his already legendary six-touchdown, 56.2-point Christmas Day outing in Week 16 that essentially decided an untold number of fantasy championship weekend matchups as they were just getting started.

And, no, the above “bounce-back” reference isn’t understated as Kamara already has 127.8 more fantasy points than he totaled in 14 injury-addled games a season ago while scoring only six TDs. Through Week 16, Kamara leads the league with 21 total scores (16 rushing, five receiving).

We’re not going to expand on honorable mentions in the rest of the rounds, but fantasy’s No. 1 wide receiver, the Packers’ Davante Adams (ADP 9, WR2), definitely deserves a shout-out with his position-leading 17 TDs and obscene 26.4-fantasy-point-per-game average, which is merely the best among all wideouts since the 1970 merger, as fellow fantasy analyst Scott Pianowski pointed out Monday on Twitter.

Worst pick: Thomas (ADP4, WR1)

There are myriad deserving contenders here — namely McCaffrey, Barkley and Elliott — but we’re going with Thomas, the only non-running back selected among the top eight.

Taking the first wide receiver is almost always a swing pick in drafts, and it wound up burning a number of general managers who not only ended up missing out on the likes of Kamara (ADP 5), Dalvin Cook (6), Derrick Henry (7) and Adams (9), but they received just 83.8 fantasy points (40 receptions for 438 yards and no TDs) in seven games (4.7 points total in Weeks 1-8) with only three contests with more than 10.1 PPR points from the injury-addled Thomas himself.

And those came in Weeks 11, 13 and 14, long after Thomas had been traded away or benched by many of the fantasy squads that had drafted him. And, then, just when it seemed he was finally heating up, Thomas was placed on injured reserve after Week 14, ending his deeply disappointing, injury-marred fantasy regular season for good.

Not exactly the encore performance anyone envisioned following Thomas’ record-setting 149-catch, 1,725-yard, nine-TD season in 2019.

Round 2 (ADP 13-24)

Best pick: Travis Kelce (ADP14, TE1)

Worst pick: George Kittle (ADP 23, TE2)

We group these two together here as their 2020 seasons make the case for and against drafting a tight end early.

Kelce was the third wide receiver/tight end selected on average, and he comes out of Week 16 with the fourth-most total fantasy points (312.6) among the two positions, trailing only Adams (343.8), WR teammate Tyreek Hill (334.9) and Bills stud wideout Stefon Diggs (314.0). And, like Adams, Kelce’s 20.9 fantasy-point per-game average is the best among tight ends since the merger.

Kelce’s 1,416 receiving yards not only are a single-season tight end record, they’re 44 more than anyone else aside from Diggs (1,459) has compiled through Week 16.

So not only did drafting Kelce give you elite WR1 production, it gave his fantasy teams a massive weekly advantage at tight end as Kelce and the Raiders’ Darren Waller (16.9 points) were the only tight ends who have played at least eight games and are averaging more than 12.6 fantasy points per outing.

Kittle, meanwhile, did average 15.9 fantasy points per outing but played in only seven games due to injury. One of those seven came Saturday in Week 16 when he returned from a two-month absence with 13.2 fantasy points, but that comes long after most of his fantasy teams had seen their seasons end.

In all, Kittle has 111.3 total fantasy points, 20th among tight ends, on the season. And with Kittle having been selected well ahead of the likes of Calvin Ridley, D.K. Metcalf, Adam Thielen, Keenan Allen, Mike Evans, Jonathan Taylor, Chris Carson and Waller it makes for a failed second-round tight end gamble.

Round 3 (ADP 25-36)

Best pick: Jonathan Taylor (ADP 34, RB17)

Taylor provided a lesson in rookie running back patience as he had only four top-20 weekly RB finishes through his first nine games before reeling off five straight top-15 finishes with at least 15 PPR points since Week 11. That put him on a bunch of league-champion rosters as he compiled the fourth-most points (69.4) at the position during the fantasy postseason.

It’s all added up to 216.4 total fantasy points in 14 games — eighth most among running backs and only fractions behind Elliott (216.6), who was selected 31 spots and two round higher.

Worst pick: Leonard Fournette (ADP 33, RB18)

Real close here between Fournette, WR Kenny Golladay and fellow RBs Todd Gurley and James Conner, but we’re going with the released-Jaguar-turned-Buccaneer who wound up playing second fiddle to Ronald Jones in the Bucs’ backfield for the majority of the season and compiled a pedestrian 127.3 fantasy points (35th among RBs) and on 126 touches in 12 games.

He had only three RB2 weekly finishes/scoring more than 11 fantasy points and fell well short of third-round value expectations while playing in the high-scoring Tampa Bay attack.

Round 4 (ADP 37-48)

Best pick: Ridley (ADP 45, WR16)

With the getting-long-in-the-tooth Julio Jones battling injuries and limited to nine games this season, Ridley enjoyed a third-year breakout and emerged as the Falcons’ top pass-catcher.

Only four wideouts (Adams, Hill, DeAndre Hopkins and Diggs) have totaled more fantasy points this season than Ridley, who was selected behind but easily outperformed the likes of Chris Godwin (37th among WRs), Odell Beckham Jr. (84th), Golladay (99th), JuJu Smith-Schuster (16th) and D.J. Moore (24th) — and not all of it was due to injuries.

Worst pick: Le’Veon Bell (ADP 42, RB21)

Bell started the season with the Jets and was drafted to be a RB2, but he ranks 61st at the position with 74.6 total fantasy points — fewer than the likes of McCaffrey (three games), Brian Hill, Boston Scott, Johsua Kelley, Kalen Ballage, Devontae Booker and fullback Kyle Juszczyk, among others.

After leading the league with 406 touches only three years ago in 2017, Bell has only 108 in 11 games this year and has produced just 353 total yards and two TDs. Even in his second “start” for the Chiefs on Sunday with injured rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire sidelined, Bell had all of 39 total yards on eight touches — a final, brutal blow for those in deeper leagues who took a flex flyer on Bell on championship weekend.

Round 5 (ADP 49-60)

Best pick: Kyler Murray (ADP 52, QB6)

Even with the hullabaloo fellow QBs Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson have received — in fantasy and reality from pre-draft through this past weekend — your highest-scoring fantasy QB is none other than Murray with 445.8 total fantasy points and his average of 29.7 per game. His legs have played a major role with 816 yards and 11 TDs on the ground.

The only knock on the second-year Cardinals QB is that he didn’t save his best for last with all four of his non-QB1 weekly finishes coming during his last five games.

Still, even if Murray didn’t wind up winning his fantasy squads many titles, he most definitely was a major factor in driving them to the fantasy postseason. Not bad for the sixth QB off the board.

Worst pick: Mark Ingram (ADP 54, RB25)

More than a few fantasy GMs thought they were snaring a fifth-round bargain in Ingram, who finished 2019 as fantasy’s 11th-ranked back with 242.5 total points.

But through Sunday, Ingram has produced all of 49 fantasy points — including only 14.7 from Week 6 forward — on 69 total touches in 10 games. Meanwhile, rookie J.K. Dobbins (136.5) and Gus Edwards (122.2) have emerged as the only usable fantasy RBs on the league’s top-ranked rushing team (177.8 yards per game).

Later-round finds (ADP 70 or higher)

  • David Montgomery (ADP 71, RB29): Fantasy’s sixth-best back for the season (236.6 points) has been the second-best RB in the fantasy postseason (73.8), trailing only Kamara (97.0).
  • Allen (ADP 74, QB8): Only Murray has more fantasy points than Allen’s 441.8 and only Rodgers (47) has accounted for more total TDs among QBs than Allen’s 42, which include eight rushing. And to think Allen’s huge third-year leap has even more impressive in reality than it has been in fantasy.
  • Rodgers (ADP 84, QB11): After three straight seasons outside the top six at the position, the 37-year-old Rodgers has tossed a league-leading 44 TD passes and ranks fifth overall at the position with 411.4 total points.
  • Antonio Gibson (ADP 93, RB35): The Washington Football Team rookie has made a name for himself on the team with no name, totaling the 12th-most RB fantasy points (197.1) on the year, despite a late-season turf toe injury that kept him out Week 14 and 15 and most of Week 13.
  • Justin Jefferson (ADP 122, WR48): This rookie 11th-round fantasy steal has been one of the true gems of a standout rookie class, ranking ninth among wide receivers with 247.9 fantasy points and seventh with 1,267 receiving yards.
  • T.J. Hockenson (ADP 129, TE14): Only Kelce and Waller have totaled more fantasy points to date among tight ends than Hockenson’s 169.8 as he has stepped in the for the injured Golladay as the Lions’ go-to target.
  • Ryan Tannehill (ADP 138, QB21): The rejuvenated Titans’ quarterback has shown that his red-hot 2019 was no fluke, ranking eighth at the position in total fantasy points (360.9).
  • James Robinson (ADP 184, RB59): His Week 16 injury absence (his first missed game of the season) was certainly brutal in terms of fantasy timing, but this undrafted Jaguars rookie has been the out-of-nowhere fantasy success story of the season as he ranks fourth overall at running back with 250.4 fantasy points.
  • Robby Anderson (ADP 185, WR63): This former Jet was almost totally overlooked this summer as a late-round/undrafted end-of-the-fantasy bench wide receiver, but five months later we find him ranked 16th at the position with 217.1 fantasy points.
  • Justin Herbert (ADP 189, QB31): Speaking of overlooked, this Chargers rookie has set the league rookie record with 28 TD passes (and counting) while ranking seventh in average fantasy points per outing (25.7) among QBs who have started six or more games.
  • Mike Davis (undrafted): Being without McCaffrey wasn’t a death knell for fantasy GMs if they managed to secure the services of the veteran Davis, who has proven to be a fine low-end RB1 fill-in, ranking 11th among RBs with 208.5 fantasy points on the season.
  • Myles Gaskin (undrafted): The since-released Jordan Howard (ADP of 34 among RBs) and Matt Breida (41) were the only Dolphins RBs selected in the majority of drafts this summer, but this unheralded, second-year back quickly took charge in the Miami backfield and has averaged the eighth most fantasy points (16.7) among RBs who have played in at least seven games this season.
  • J.D. McKissic (undrafted): In Gibson and a tight end listed below, the WFT was full of fantasy sleeper surprises, and McKissic’s unexpected rise rivals any as he ranks 16th among running backs with 185.4 PPR points. That’s chiefly courtesy of his 75 receptions and 559 receiving yards, which trail only Kamara (83-756) at the position. Truly one of the shocking stats of the fantasy season.
  • Robert Tonyan, Logan Thomas (undrafted): Reliably productive tight ends remain among the rarest of fantasy commodities, but these two waiver-wire finds currently have compiled the fourth- and sixth-most fantasy points, respectively, at the position.

POLL: Do you think the Vikings should rest their starters in Week 17?

Vikings fans, what do you think: Should Minnesota rest its starters against Detroit in Week 17?

At 6-9, Minnesota is eliminated from playoff contention.

But that doesn’t mean the season is over. The Vikings have one more game to play, against the Lions in Week 17.

WR Justin Jefferson could break the Vikings’ rookie yardage record, held by Randy Moss. RB Dalvin Cook, currently tied for first in rushing touchdowns, could finish all alone in first place for that stat if he has another good game. WR Adam Thielen could go for more than 1,000 receiving yards on the year.

However, all of that involves those players getting reps in a meaningless game. There’s no telling yet what the team will actually do, but if you had to decide, what would you do, Vikings fans?

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Justin Jefferson is on the verge of breaking Randy Moss’ yardage record

Vikings rookie wide receiver Justin Jefferson has already broke Randy Moss’ rookie team record for most receptions in a season.

Vikings rookie wide receiver Justin Jefferson has already broke Randy Moss’ rookie team record for most receptions in a season.

Heading into Week 17 of the season, Jefferson could break Moss’ rookie yardage record. Moss finished his rookie season with 1,313 yards in 1998. Jefferson needs just 47 yards against the Lions to close out the season to ink his name in the history books.

This could all be impacted by who plays for the Vikings in what will be a meaningless game. Will Kirk Cousins suit up at quarterback or will it be Sean Mannion?

I would imagine young players, even the ones as talented as Jefferson, will play.

Jefferson’s mark of 1,267 receiving yards ranks fourth in the NFL behind only DeAndre Hopkins, Travis Kelce and Stefon Diggs.

Jefferson has by far been the best rookie wide receiver. The next closest rookie in receiving yards is Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb who has 827 receiving yards.

Chasing history: What’s on the line for Chargers QB Justin Herbert?

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is on his way to breaking more records.

What rookie quarterback Justin Herbert is doing this season is like none other, breaking records on a weekly basis and giving fans reason for optimism for years to come.

This past week, Herbert earned his eighth NFL Rookie of the Week honor for his performance against the Raiders, tying the record for most honors through eleven weeks of the season with Ben Roethlisberger.

If Herbert can be named Rookie of the Week twice in the final two games, he will pass Roethlisberger’s all-time mark (9).

However, there’s a lot more notable accomplishments that the rookie can achieve in Weeks 16 and 17.

Herbert just needs one more passing touchdown to own the all-time rookie mark for passing touchdowns thrown (28), which can be done this Sunday against the Broncos.

Herbert is also inching closer to most passing completions in a single season, which is held by Carson Wentz (379). He also has a chance at Andrew Luck’s record for most passing yards in a rookie season (4,374).

Herbert has completed 353 of his 531 passes (66.48%) for 3,781 yards, 27 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. He also has four rushing touchdowns.

Herbert is the current favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year at -800, per BetMGM. Vikings’ Justin Jefferson is second at +500 and Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa is third at +5000.

Why should the Vikings be optimistic? Justin Jefferson of course

One thing Vikings fans have to look forward to? Minnesota WR Justin Jefferson is already a star.

Minnesota doesn’t have a lot to look forward to in regards to the 2020 season.

At 6-9, the team is already eliminated from playoff contention. Not only that, but the Vikings lost their last game by giving up over 50 points to the Saints.

In a season like this one, it can be hard to find positives at times. But Bleacher Report did just that. The outlet listed a a positive takeaway for each NFL team and Justin Jefferson is the Vikings’ silver lining. Here’s what it said:

“Quarterback Kirk Cousins’ massive contract will force the Vikings to draft well so long as he remains on the roster. His $31 million cap hit in 2021 and $45 million cap hit in 2022 will make it tricky to build out his supporting cast, but paying a receiver of Jefferson’s caliber only $3 million and $3.6 million in those seasons will help.”

With how the Vikings’ cap situation is looking for 2021, it helps to have good players on cheap contracts. As it stands, that’s the case with Jefferson. So be positive about that, Vikings fans.

The stakes are low, but the Vikings still have something to prove against the Saints

The Minnesota Vikings do not have a high-stakes game against the New Orleans Saints. But that does’t mean it’s completely unimportant.

For the Vikings, this is not gearing up to be a very positive season.

As it stands, Minnesota has just a 2% of making the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight. Basically, it’s a long shot for Minnesota to get a top draft pick or a postseason berth, on account of its 6-8 record.

But that doesn’t mean the game against the Saints is meaningless. Minnesota should still look at this game and assess what talent it has for the future.

Defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo has a chance to make final impressions on the coaching staff. He hasn’t been stellar as a starter this year, but he does have the opportunity to change the narrative if he goes on a tear these last two games.

Jalyn Holmes probably won’t start next season, due to Danielle Hunter returning, but he still has a chance to be a useful reserve. He could even switch back to defensive tackle next season if he starts to provide a lot of pressure for the rest of 2020.

The young corners have a chance to take more strides against a good Saints offense. Justin Jefferson can add to his rookie resume. And isn’t it fun for Vikings fans to see their team beat the Saints?

So it’s not the high-stakes game that some expected at this time of the year for the Vikings. But there are still some opportunities. It’s a long shot to think that this Minnesota team will make a postseason run in 2020. That doesn’t mean the team can’t develop for the long term, against a good team in New Orleans.