Justin Jefferson Keeps Re-Writing Record Books
Josh Frey
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It seems like it’s another week, another record for the Vikings star wide receiver. Justin Jefferson keeps re-writing record books, and on Thanksgiving night against the New England Patriots, he broke Randy Moss’s record for most receiving yards through a player’s first three NFL seasons.
Moss set the record from 1998-2000 by recording 4163 receiving yards over his first 48 games. With his 139 receiving yards on Thanksgiving, Jefferson broke the record by setting a mark of 4248 yards through his first 44 games. Here is how the top five stand, including how many games they played:
- Justin Jefferson- 4248 (44 games)
- Randy Moss- 4163 (48 games)
- Odell Beckham Jr.- 4122 (43 games)
- A.J. Green- 3833 (47 games)
- Michael Thomas- 3787 (47 games)
The fact that Jefferson broke this record is impressive enough, but it’s absolutely astounding that the record is now his by the time the Thanksgiving weekend is wrapping up. There are still six games left for him to continue building on the record.
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If Jefferson continues on his current pace, there’s a decent chance that he could be the first player to break 5000 yards in his first three NFL seasons. The 23-year-old needs 756 yards to do so.
In the six-game stretch from Weeks 4-10, Jefferson put up 814 receiving yards, so he’s already proven plenty capable of such a run of production.
This mark is an important milestone for Jefferson because it also brings him that much closer to his goal of reaching 2000 receiving yards this season. Through the first 11 games of the 2022 season, Jefferson now has 1232 yards, meaning he needs 768 in order to reach 2000. If he continues to average 112 yards per game as he has done so far this year, he’ll finish the season at 1904 yards, just 60 yards behind Calvin Johnson for the single-season record.
The Vikings get a mini-bye week now with 10 days before they play again. In that game, they will host the New York Jets on Sunday, December 4th. Jefferson will likely spend much of that game guarded by the Jets star rookie cornerback, Sauce Gardner. Perhaps the third-year record holder can get the better of the rook in that matchup.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.