Justin Jefferson

Justin Jefferson (born June 16, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU and was drafted by the Vikings in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Justin Jefferson
Jefferson with LSU in 2019
No. 18 – Minnesota Vikings
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1999-06-16) June 16, 1999
St. Rose, Louisiana
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:202 lb (92 kg)
Career information
High school:Destrehan
(Destrehan, Louisiana)
College:LSU
NFL Draft:2020 / Round: 1 / Pick: 22
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Receptions:88
Receiving yards:1,400
Receiving average:15.9
Receiving touchdowns:7
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early years

Jefferson attended Destrehan High School in Destrehan, Louisiana.[1] He committed to Louisiana State University (LSU) to play college football.[2]

College career
Jefferson at LSU

After appearing in two games and not recording a catch his first year at LSU in 2017, Jefferson was their leading receiver in 2018 with 54 catches for 875 yards and six touchdowns.[3][4][5]

As a junior in 2019, Jefferson led the country with 111 receptions. His 18 receiving touchdowns ranked second in the country—behind only teammate Ja'Marr Chase—and his 1,540 receiving yards were third most.[6] He had a historic performance in the Peach Bowl, catching 14 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns against the Oklahoma Sooners. All four touchdowns came in the first half, and set a College Football Playoff game record and tied the record for any bowl game.[7] In the National Championship against Clemson, he had nine receptions for 106 yards in the 42–25 victory.[8] On January 15, 2020, Jefferson announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft.[9]

Statistics
Season Receiving Rushing
Rec Yards Avg Lng TD ATT YDS AVG LNG
2017 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 4 4.0 4
2018 54 875 16.2 65 6 5 26 5.2 19
2019 111 1,540 13.9 71 18 0 0 0.0 0

Source:[10]

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump
6 ft 1 1⁄4 in
(1.86 m)		 202 lb
(92 kg)		 33 in
(0.84 m)		 9 1⁄8 in
(0.23 m)		 4.43 s 37.5 in
(0.95 m)		 10 ft 6 in
(3.20 m)
All values from NFL Combine[11]

Jefferson was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round with the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.[12] The Vikings previously obtained the 22nd selection as part of the trade that sent wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills.[13] Jefferson signed a four-year, $13.12 million contract with the team, with a $7.1 million signing bonus.[14] Jefferson was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on July 27, 2020,[15] before being cleared and activated a week later.[16]

2020

On September 13, 2020, Jefferson made his NFL debut in a game against the Green Bay Packers, recording two receptions for 26 yards in the 34–43 loss.[17] He made his first start of the season, in a Week 3 game against the Tennessee Titans, where he had his first big breakthrough by finishing with 175 receiving yards and a touchdown on seven receptions, but the Vikings lost 30–31.[18] He followed up that performance the next week with four receptions for 103 yards in a 31–23 win over the Houston Texans. In doing so, he became just the fifth rookie wide receiver in Vikings history to have back to back games with at least 100 yards receiving.[19] During Week 6 against the Atlanta Falcons, Jefferson finished with 166 receiving yards and two touchdowns as the Vikings lost 23–40.[20] In Week 10 against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, Jefferson recorded eight receptions for 135 receiving yards during the 19–13 victory.[21] In Week 12, against the Carolina Panthers, he had seven receptions for 70 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in the 28–27 victory.[22] In Week 13 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jefferson recorded nine catches for 121 yards and a touchdown during the 27–24 overtime win.[23] In Week 15 against the Chicago Bears, Jefferson broke Randy Moss's Vikings rookie receiving record by catching 8 passes, putting him at 74 receptions, surpassing the 69 catches Moss had in 1998.[24]

By the season's end, Jefferson had set the NFL record for most receiving yards (1,400) by a rookie in NFL history after surpassing Anquan Boldin's 1,377 yards in 2003.[25] He was one of only two rookies named to the 2021 Pro Bowl, alongside Chase Young of the Washington Football Team.[26]

NFL statistics
Year Team Games Receiving Rushing Fumbles
GPGSRecYdsAvgLngTDAttYdsAvgLngTDFumLost
2020MIN 1614881,40015.971T7122.02000
Career1614881,40015.9717122.02000

Personal life

His brothers, Jordan and Rickey, also played college football at LSU. [27]

References
  1. Gillen, Garland (September 16, 2016). "Another Jefferson stars for Destrehan football". fox8live.com. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  2. Lopez, Andrew (August 3, 2017). "Destrehan's Justin Jefferson added to LSU football team". NOLA.com. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  3. "Justin Jefferson 2017 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  4. "Justin Jefferson 2018 Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  5. Guilbeau, Glenn (August 23, 2019). "LSU's Justin Jefferson will transition from Mr. Outside to Mr. Inside at receiver in 2019". The Advertiser.
  6. "Justin Jefferson College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  7. West, Jenna (December 29, 2019). "Five Things to Know About Justin Jefferson, LSU's Breakout Receiver". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  8. "College Football Championship – Clemson vs LSU Box Score, January 13, 2020". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  9. Conway, Tyler. "LSU WR Justin Jefferson Declares for 2020 NFL Draft". Bleacher Report. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  10. "Justin Jefferson Stats". ESPN. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  11. "Justin Jefferson Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  12. White, R.J. (April 23, 2020). "2020 NFL Draft grades: Vikings get an 'A' for selecting Justin Jefferson at No. 22 overall". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  13. "2020 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  14. Rapp, Timothy. "Report: Justin Jefferson, Vikings Agree to 4-Year, $13.12M Rookie Contract". Bleacher Report. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  15. "Vikings Announce Roster Moves". Vikings.com. July 27, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  16. "Vikings Announce Roster Moves; Justin Jefferson Activated". Vikings.com. August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  17. "Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings – September 13th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  18. "Tennessee Titans at Minnesota Vikings – September 27th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  19. "Minnesota Vikings at Houston Texans – October 4th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  20. "Atlanta Falcons at Minnesota Vikings – October 18th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  21. "Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears - November 16th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  22. "Carolina Panthers at Minnesota Vikings - November 29th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  23. "Jacksonville Jaguars at Minnesota Vikings - December 6th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  24. DeArdo, Bryan. "Vikings' Justin Jefferson breaks Randy Moss' longstanding franchise rookie record". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  25. "WR Jefferson sets Super Bowl-era rookie record". ESPN.com. January 3, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  26. Sullivan, Tyler. "Pro Bowl rosters for NFC and AFC: Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers named starters, two rookies make the cut". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  27. Kubena, Brooks (September 20, 2018). "LSU family legacy continues through Justin Jefferson: 'It's like he was destined to do it'". The Advocate. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
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