Minnesota Vikings star Justin Jefferson has taken no time in his NFL career to prove that he is amongst the best wide receivers in all of football. And he entered a prestigious group in NFL history on Thursday night when he and the Vikings took on the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football.
Jefferson came into the game with 4,975 receiving yards in his career, a ridiculous feat considering he is just entering his fourth season in the NFL.
It did not take long for Jefferson to reach the 5,000 receiving yards club, doing so in the first half of the game. Unfortunately, the yardage he needed actually came on a play where he ended up fumbling out of the back of the endzone, resulting in a touchback instead of a Vikings touchdown.
After review, Justin Jefferson's 30-yard gain resulted in a touchback instead of 1st-and-goal.
Al Michaels and Terry McAulay discussed the ruling on the Amazon Prime Video broadcast. 📺🏈 #TNF pic.twitter.com/H1nTw3Q6bO
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 15, 2023
The play itself was obviously not great for the Vikings. But individually, this catch for Jefferson puts him in a class that only he and legendary Vikings star Randy Moss are a part of. He becomes just the second player in NFL history to reach 5,000 or more receiving yards before turning 25 years old.
The only players in NFL history with 5,000+ career receiving yards prior to turning age 25:
Justin Jefferson
Randy Moss pic.twitter.com/ODXEjlc3TV— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2023
Moss is one of the all-time greats. And most fans agree that barring anything unforeseen in Jefferson’s career, he is also on his way to becoming one of the greats at his position down the road.
Most would think it's photoshop but rookie year he wore #18 in the preseason https://t.co/tfFYRRApTh pic.twitter.com/BcJ6P50L4f
— Olu (@HeruIsBack) September 15, 2023
The Vikings are the multiverse Titans where they ALWAYS have a generational talent at WR. https://t.co/FktYAikIXb
— Titan Up Podcast (@TitanUpPod) September 15, 2023
https://twitter.com/DesaraeBreann/status/1702504145486233712
Gods recognize gods https://t.co/lgZPV7RPbe
— Benjamin Harris (@BennyMcAwesome) September 15, 2023
Wow, surely with 2 of the best young receivers ever and a fantastic defense in the 70’s the Lombardi trophy case is full! https://t.co/jJDbShbruS
— Tyler LaFontaine (@TylerLaFontain9) September 15, 2023
my Vikes got the best WRs all time 😈 https://t.co/vu8wKocg1w
— $PIEGEL (@williespiegel_) September 15, 2023
Only time will tell whether Jefferson ever reaches some of the heights that Moss saw in his historic career. But the Vikings very clearly have a special one in Justin Jefferson.
[NFL]
