Former NFL WR Whiffs on Ranking of Top Receivers Heading into 2023 Season
Keyshawn Johnson is one of the few folks that can say he played football at the NFL level. In fact, he was fortunate enough to spend 11 years in the league, spending time with the New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys, and Carolina Panthers, and he made three Pro Bowls along the way.
There is little to critique when it comes to the former NFL WR’s talent on the field. However, when it comes to ranking the top receivers in the NFL heading into the 2023 season, Johnson had a big swing and a miss.
During a recent episode of the Keyshawn, JWill & Max Show on ESPN, Johnson decided to give his rankings for the top five wide receivers in the NFL heading into the 2023 season. Here is who he placed in his top five:
- Tyreek Hill
- Davante Adams
- Ja’Marr Chase
- Stefon Diggs
- A.J. Brown
Yes, that’s right, Vikings star receiver and reigning Offensive Player of the Year, Justin Jefferson, was nowhere to be found on the list. Apparently, there was no room for the player who put up 128 receptions and 1809 yards last season, leading the league in both categories at just 23 years old.
Johnson’s co-host, Max Kellerman, argued for both Cooper Kupp and Jefferson on the list saying, “I’d probably put Jefferson at four or five because he is so productive. You know, guys like Jefferson and Cooper Kupp, I agree with you, even if it’s the system or whatever else when they are in the right situation, they are going to get a million catches, a million yards, a million touchdowns.”
That brings another question, though: how is Jefferson just a system player? In three NFL seasons, he’s played for two different head coaches (Mike Zimmer, Kevin O’Connell) and has had three different offensive coordinators (Gary Kubiak, Klint Kubiak, Wes Phillips).
Despite this complete lack of a continuous system, it hasn’t stopped Jefferson from steadily increasing his receptions and receiving yardage totals during each of his first three years in the league.
Of course, this doesn’t mean the Vikings star is without criticism. As our own K. Joudry points out, the receiver could be better at racking up touchdowns:
With Jefferson, there’s room for improvement as a scorer. Jefferson can and should make it a priority to score more for the Vikings. Moreover, Kevin O’Connell can and should make it a priority to help his WR1 shake loose just as Kirk Cousins can and should be looking in Jefferson’s direction near the endzone.
That being said, Jefferson has spent his early career playing alongside Adam Thielen, who has a reputation as one of the best red zone receivers in the entire league. Since 2020, he has scored the third-most touchdowns in the NFL.
With Thielen now in Carolina, it would make sense for more of these red zone targets to go Jefferson’s way. It will also be his first year of actual continuity at OC, so perhaps we see even more growth from Jefferson this season.
Perhaps 2023 will be the year that Minnesota’s WR1 finally shakes the criticism about his touchdown totals. Regardless, it’s tough to suggest that this should eliminate him from a list of the top-five receivers in the league.
