Justin

Jefferson

Jefferson was 47 yard short of 1,000 receiving yards on the season and eclipsed that marker in the first half with a barrage of targets from J.J. McCarthy before McCarthy left the game with a right hand injury. Plagued by some of the worst quarterbacking in recent NFL memory, Jefferson managed just two touchdowns after ten touchdowns last season without an established starter under center for the Vikings. He had no chemistry whatsoever with McCarthy. Jefferson remains an elite wideout who dominates targets and air yards and will continue to do so in 2026. If he gets some decent quarterback play, Jefferson should bounce back nicely in Kevin O’Connell’s fantasy-friendly offensive scheme.

It could have been worse? Max Brosmer threw for all of 51 yards in a game that set offense back to before there even was a streaming service to watch a football game on, so getting even 30 yards becomes a little more impresssive. Imagine being issued caveats about a Justin Jefferson game coming into 2025. He’ll get one more chance to add to the disappointing numbers in Week 18 against the Packers.

Jefferson has been seeing WR1 volume all year. He hasn’t given fantasy managers a WR1 performance in months. While he might not crack the top 12 for Week 16 when all is said and done, this is still his best showing by total yards since Week 6. Six catches are his best mark since Week 8. Jefferson notably converted multiple third downs with more than 10 yards to go. One came from J.J. McCarthy on the opening drive and the other was a miraculous, toe-dragging catch on a Max Brosmer toss near in the second half. With McCarthy banged up and Brosmer likely to start next week, Jefferson will be stuck on the WR2/3 border for the fantasy football championship week.

Jefferson saw numerous high-value targets in this one, failing to come down with either of his two end zone chances. The veteran alpha also had a touchdown called back in the second quarter after connecting with McCarthy from four yards out, only to see the score nullified by penalty. Additionally, two separate passes hit Jefferson in the hands and eventually fell incomplete. Jefferson and the Vikings continue forward now eliminated from postseason contention — something Jefferson-reliant managers can sympathize with — so they’ll spend the remainder of the season trying to work on the connection between the team’s quarterback and top pass-catcher.

Jefferson has now totaled 15 combined receiving yards over the last two weeks. The Vikings’ WR1 failed to make an impact in what was undoubtedly the best game of J.J. McCarthy’s young career, and would have gone without a catch were it not for two receptions on the Vikings’ second drive of the game. Jefferson did see a deep target in the end zone that was broken up by Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil, but that was the closest he came to avoiding back-to-back dud weeks. Talent alone will keep Jefferson in the top-24 mix for Week 15’s game against the Cowboys, but it’s impossible to ignore this disappointing stretch.

It was as bleak as ever for Jefferson in a lost season in the prime of his NFL career. The Vikings designed some easy looks for Jefferson in the first quarter, but Max Brosmer — an undrafted rookie making his first-ever NFL start — quickly looked elsewhere. Jordan Addison led the Vikings with ten targets and TJ Hockenson saw six looks from Brosmer, who averaged 4.2 yards per throw. It doesn’t really matter whether Brosmer or JJ McCarthy (concussion) is under center for the Vikings in Week 14 against Atlanta: Jefferson is nothing more than a top-24 fantasy option with limited upside.

Since Carson Wentz went down against the Chargers in Week 8, Jefferson has not crossed 70 yards or done better than six catches. J.J. McCarthy has somehow turned the NFL’s No. 1 wideout for two years running into someone who can barely get a chance to catch a dig route. Perhaps the Vikings will find a different quarterback ahead of Week 13’s game against the Seahawks, but if they don’t, we’re at the point where we just have to assume McCarthy can’t do better for Jefferson than a WR3 game.

J.J. McCarthy, who completed just 48 percent of his attempts and was abysmal for the first three-and-a-half quarters, forced the ball to Jefferson a few times, resulting in another two interceptions. Jefferson’s nine targets led all Vikings pass catchers but it was Jordan Addison who caught a late fourth quarter touchdown. Jefferson now has one touchdown catch over his past nine games. He’s visibly frustrated on the field and on the sideline. The Vikings’ pass volume — and, of course, production — with McCarthy at the helm makes Jefferson something closer to a top-20 weekly play rather than a locked-in top-three option. Jefferson gets the Packers in Week 12.

It was a very uncharacteristic day for Jefferson, who fell on a deep pass that resulted in an interception, and later dropped a pass on the doorstep of the end zone. Despite these struggles, it took a team effort for Jefferson to turn out this disappointing performance, as J.J. McCarthy missed him on several throws throughout the day on plays that would have gone for chunk gains. Fantasy managers rostering Jefferson have no choice but to start him and hope for the best at this point, but the star receiver has managed just 10 receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown on 21 targets since McCarthy’s return. He’ll hope for a better outing in Week 11 against the Bears.

Making his first start with J.J. McCarthy since Week 2, Jefferson was held under 74 yards for only the second time all season. The first, of course, was McCarthy’s first career start in Week 1. The second-year quarterback completed only 14 passes, five of which likely came on scripted plays on the open two series. Thankfully, that included a Jefferson touchdown. Jefferson made an absurd one-handed grab against man coverage in the end zone. Excellent stuff, though as feared, this is a much lower volume passing attack with McCarthy under center. The Ravens are at least a soft Week 10 home matchup, though Baltimore’s defense looked better coming out of its Week 8 bye. Jefferson remains a WR1 with McCarthy under center, just one with a much lower floor than we have become accustomed to.