Justin Jefferson grew up in Louisiana before attending college at LSU. Jefferson teamed with Joe Burroughs and Jamar Chase in one of the most explosive offenses in recent college history and led the Tigers to a run to the national championship. The Minnesota Vikings selected him in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and since then, Jefferson has been battling Chase for the title of greatest wide receiver alive.
On Sunday, Jefferson got a chance to play in his home state when the Vikings traveled to face the New Orleans Saints. Jefferson circled this game on the calendar, and made one of the most impressive plays of the week. The Vikings won again, beating the Saints 23-13 to move to a shocking 5-0.
The Vikings took the lead in the third quarter on a Jefferson touchdown. Kyler Murray was triple covered in the end zone when he picked up the ball, but somehow still came down with it. How many receivers in the league are actually beating triple coverage? It could just be Jefferson. Watch the game here:
Here is another angle. New Orleans legitimately had two guys going over the top with safety help and still couldn’t stop Jefferson. His ability to beat press coverage off the line is tough to stop, and Murray gets enough air under this ball to allow Jefferson to touch it down.
Jefferson will never put up the same numbers as the best receivers in the league — like Chase and Jackson Smith-Njigba — because the Vikings have so many questions at quarterback. In terms of pure talent, however, Jefferson still has a case for being the best wideout in the league.
The Vikings relied entirely on their defense to fuel this 5-0 run. Brian Flores is a demon, and he’s more than capable of being a defensive coordinator. Part of the reason the Vikings are so scary is because they have Jefferson, even if their offense isn’t exactly world-beating. Just throw him in triple coverage, and he’ll probably go down with it.