Can Vikings Justin Jefferson become first in NFL history with 2000 receiving yards in a single season
Can Vikings Justin Jefferson become first in NFL history with 2000 receiving yards in a single season
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Among all the records that exist in the NFL, 2,000 yards in a single season stands out among the crowd. There have only been eight running backs in league history to accumulate 2,000 yards on the ground in a single season. Hitting that benchmark presents multiple rewards coming in various forms like nicknames (CJ2K for running back ), a new contract, hardware (Offensive Player of the Year and MVP awards), and immortality (four of the eight are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with a lock to join that group one day). wide receiver announced to Twin Cities local media at the end of July that he thinks he can be the first at his position to total 2,000 receiving yards in a single campaign."I hope so," Jefferson on July 25. "I think I can. Hopefully, everything goes right and I can get that 2,000 receiving yards . That's my goal. That would be big, just breaking the record my rookie year most receiving yards by a rookie and then breaking a record in my third year, that would be crazy for me. That's going to be a goal for me, for sure."His confidence isn't unfounded. Jefferson leads the NFL with 3,016 receiving yards over the past two seasons since being selected 22nd overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. This represents the most receiving yards in a player's first two seasons in NFL history. His 196 career catches are tied for the most in a player's first two seasons in NFL history with wide receiver (2016-17). Jefferson needs 1,148 yards in 2022 to set the NFL record for the most in a player's first three NFL seasons, a record set by another Vikings wide receiver, Hall of Famer Randy Mo s, who had 4,163 receiving yards from 1998-2000.PlayerYards*Justin Jefferson3,0162,9272,9212,7602,5412,515Jefferson has been the featured target in Minnesota, having been thrown to on 27.5% of his team's pa s attempts since 2020 with only new receiver Davante Adams (29.7) and receiver Stefon Diggs (27.7) having a higher percentage in the span of Jefferson's career. With a career yards-per-catch average of 15.4, the highest in the NFL since 2020 among players with a minimum of 150 catches, Jefferson would need about 130 receptions this upcoming season if he were to post that as his 2022 figure. His current career high is his 2021 season total of 108 receptions on 167 targets.The current single-season receiving yards record holder is Hall of Famer , the former Detroit Lion, who utilized an NFL single-season record nine games with over 120 receiving yards in 2012 en route to the record of 1,964. He averaged 122.8 receiving yards per game, 16.1 receiving yards per catch, while playing all 16 games and hauling in an NFL-high 122 receptions on 204 targets that season. The toughest part of becoming the first wide receiver to 2,000 receiving yards is the required sustained level of excellence acro s an entire season. What led to the player known as Megatron falling short of 2,000 yards was he had four games, a quarter of his season, with fewer than 80 receiving yards. With the second-best pa s catcher on that team being tight end and the team's lead running back being , defenses were able to focus on, and for brief spells, slow down Johnson throughout the course of his legendary 2012 season.Last season, 2021 Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp totaled the second-most receiving yards (1,947) on the second-most catches (145) in a single season in NFL history, while also leading the NFL in touchdown receptions (16) and targets (191). Kupp's 2021 has a great case as the best single-season performance by a wide receiver, as he became one of four to win the receiving triple crown (lead the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in the same season) in the Super Bowl era joining (2005), Sterling Sharpe (1992) and Jerry Rice (1990). He was remarkably consistent, recording over 90 receiving yards in 16 of his 17 games played, including in 13 consecutive games (longest James Conner Jersey such streak in NFL history). What likely kept Kupp from reaching the 2,000-yard mark is he didn't have the single-game highs of Johnson's (six games of over 140 yards) as he only had two games with more than 140 yards.2021 seasonNFL all-time rankingReceptions1452ndReceiving yards1,9472ndGames with 90+ yards16*1stFantasy points439.51st* 90+ yards in final 13 regular-season games (longest such streak in NFL history)The moral of both Johnson's and Kupp's close, but not quite runs at 2,000 receiving yards: you need to be e sentially flawle s. Fortunately for Jefferson, he now has one of the architects of Kupp's 2021 season as his new head coach and play-caller to help him figure out how to do it, former offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell."Absolutely," O'Connell said when asked on in March if he planned to make Jefferson his new Kupp. "The one thing about Cooper Kupp this past season is he lined up in a lot of different spots. It was hard for defenses to really know where he was. He did a lot of different things. He had an impact in a lot of phases of our offense beyond just catching a lot of balls and scoring a lot of touchdowns. There was a huge role for Cooper because of his willingne s to be completely solidified in every phase, both the run and the pa s."In Jefferson's former offense that was run by the staff of traditional, defensive-minded head coach Mike Zimmer, Jefferson lined up outside in a typical No. 1 wide receiver spot on 75% of his offensive snaps in 2021, according to Pro Football Focus. Minnesota also utilized formations with three wide receivers on 53.8% of its plays, the eighth-lowest rate in the league. The Rams ran three wide receiver sets on 85.6% of their plays, the highest usage in the NFL. O'Connell plans to incorporate more pa s-friendly formations into Minnesota's offense, adding more unpredictability to the Vikings' pa sing game and their predictable top receiving option in Jefferson."I see that with Justin Jefferson , I see an incredible, incredible skill set, but I also see a player we can move around," O'Connell said. "We can make it hard for defenses to know where he's going to be. He doesn't have to line up in the same spot all the time. He doesn't have to run the same type of routes all the time. He's dynamic with the ball in his hands. He's willing in the run game. This guy's a special, special player. I loved him a couple years ago when he was coming out of the draft. We Los Angeles Rams obviously weren't in a position to po sibly get a chance to coach him. You still go through the proce s. You see the traits, you see the skill set. He's really just grown from Day 1." MIN WR #18 TAR167REC108REC YDs1616REC TD10FL1 After going back and watching film of the Rams' offense and the NFL's reigning Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl MVP, Jefferson knows he's going to have plenty of opportunities as O'Connell's new pa sing game muse."Just watching Rams highlights and tape of so many different plays that Coop made, I now see why Coop was so wide open so many times," Jefferson in a training camp sit-down with NFL Network. "I was always at home thinking about, 'why is this man wide open', he's the main target, but he's always wide open. Now, I see it going over the different plays and installs, seeing the different routes that he ran. It's so wonderful being in this type of offense now, especially not being in that style of offense. It's definitely exciting to see."Unlike Johnson and Kupp to a certain extent, with the early injuries to Rams running back and then-Rams wide receiver last season, Jefferson should be surrounded by more offensive talent than either of the previous closest players to 2,000 yards, which makes it harder for opponents to zero in on him each week."I think he's Jefferson got an incredibly bright future, he's Jack Lambert Jersey already a superstar in this league in my mind and no better way to build your offense obviously through the lens of a quarterback first and foremost always, but when you have a weapon like that Jefferson in addition to wide receiver Adam Thielen , tight end Irv Smith , running back Dalvin Cook , our great guys up front on the offensive line. It's been fun to study," O'Connell said. "Justin Jefferson's going to have a huge role in our offense and continue to ascend in this league. Cannot wait to start coaching him." Pick Six Newsletter Crafted By The Best NFL Experts Get the day's big stories + fun stuff you love like mock drafts, picks and power rankings. I agree to receive the "Pick Six Newsletter" and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. By pre sing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the and acknowledge Paramount's . Xavier Grimble Jersey Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. Sorry! There was an error proce sing your subscription. Jefferson himself hasn't been able to contain his enthusiasm when talking about the juxtaposition in the run-focused attack under Zimmer and his staff versus the more pa s-friendly scheme O'Connell is importing from the defending Super Bowl champion Rams. The Vikings ran the football 43.5% of the time since 2020, the 10th-highest rate in the NFL. In Jefferson's first two seasons, Minnesota pa sed on 56.5% of their offensive plays, which was the 10th-lowest rate in the NFL. However, the Rams' 36.3 pa s attempts per game ranked as the ninth most in the NFL. "It's the Vikings' offense not a run-first offense anymore," Jefferson, when appearing on NFL Total Acce s NFL Network on June 24. "Just us being able to put different people in different positions and distributing the ball, really. I'm so excited in this offense, us just 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 and different connection in the building with him there."At 23 years old and entering his third NFL season, Jefferson has taken the initial first steps toward what he hopes will be a career capped with a bust in Canton, Ohio, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Becoming the first to 2,000 receiving yards in a single season would be a selling point on his NFL career resume. Simply breaking Johnson's single-season mark of 1,964 would increase his chances of ending up in Canton significantly as Johnson was able to get in on the first ballot despite only playing nine profe sional seasons, which left his career totals lower than the usual standard."I want to accomplish so much, it's an endle s list that I want to accomplish," Jefferson said. "At the end of the day, I want to be a Hall of Famer. So, in order to reach that position, that position is so much more that I have to accomplish, so much more that I have to set for myself to better myself and really to learn. I just can't wait to really just see how far I can really go. This is just the start of my career, and there's just so much more I have to learn, so much more I have to do for myself to really get on that platform of being a Hall of Famer."The next big checkpoint in his NFL career is the second contract, which Jefferson will be eligible to negotiate and sign with the Vikings following the conclusion of the 2022 season, his third in the league. Adams (five years, $140 million) and new wide receiver Tyreek Hill (four years, $120 million) reset the market for wide receiver contracts at 29 and 28 years old, respectively. If Jefferson rewrites the single-season receiving yards record at his age this season, the numbers on his next contract could make Adams' and Hill's look like bargains."I mean, I hope so," Jefferson in August when asked about potentially becoming the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL. "Right now, I'm mostly focused on the season, just trying to get back to that winning record, being in the playoffs, getting to that big goal 2,000 receiving yards , reaching the Super Bowl and winning it. But of course, I would like to be one of the highest paid, for sure."Having logged a first two seasons like none other in NFL history, don't be surprised if O'Connell's presence in Minnesota helps Jefferson eventually summit the NFL's pa s-catching Mount Everest, completing a season with 2,000 receiving yards.
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