There's a swell of support for Justin Jefferson to be MVP
The MVP chants for Justin Jefferson at US Bank Stadium have been happening for weeks, but now there appears to be a swell of national media members who believe Jefferson is a legitimate MVP candidate.
Threatening to become the first wide receiver to reach 2,000 yards in a season, the outside world is finally catching on to how important Jefferson has been to Minnesota's 12-3 record and first NFC North championship since 2017.
"Justin Jefferson is the most valuable player in the league because of how he affects the games that his team is in," said Good Morning Football's Jamie Erdahl, who, admittedly, is a Minnesota native.
But the reality is that the MVP is a quarterback award. Peter King, who is one of 50 people on the planet who vote for MVP, highly doubts Jefferson has a shot.
"Not impossible, but MVP is not an award for the player who has the most outstanding season. I know it frustrates some people that what might be the best statistical season a receiver has ever had (if indeed that’s what happens with Jefferson) doesn’t get rewarded with the biggest individual award of the year. The word 'valuable' makes it hard for a quarterback not to win it because the position is so vital in the game," King explained in this week's Football Morning in America column.
Stats like these help the narrative of Jefferson being in the conversation:
According to Doug Clawson of Pro Football Focus, Jefferson has 168 receiving yards on Minnesota's eight game-winning drives this season. The rest of the team has 195 yards on those drives.
Want more muscle? Jefferson accounts for 31.6% of Kirk Cousins' completions and 42.6% of Cousins' passing yards despite receiving just shy of 30% of Cousins' targets. Those numbers suggest that Jefferson is making Cousins better rather than Cousins making Jefferson better.
Ex-NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III tweeted Saturday: "Justin Jefferson is the NFL Offensive Player of the Year and a BONAFIDE MVP CANDIDATE."
"I'm not saying that Justin Jefferson should win MVP. However, I agree with him — he should be considered and moving forward [WRs should be considered for MVP]. If you take Jefferson away from this team, we're not talking about the Vikings," said Greg Jennings, the former Packers and Vikings wide receiver, on FS1's "First Things First."
Jefferson's numbers are gaudy: 123 catches for 1,756 yards and 8 touchdowns. He's 26 catches from Michael Thomas' record 149 in 2018 and just 208 yards from breaking Calvin Johnson's single season record from 2012.
His performances have been legendary. No one will forget his 12 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown in Minnesota's record 33-point comeback against the Colts. Even more memorable on the player level was Jefferson's 10-catch, 193-yard and one touchdown performance in Minnesota's overtime thriller against the Bills, which included one of the greatest catches in NFL history on 4th-and-18.
And while Kirk Cousins has been credited with being great when it matters most in the fourth quarter, Jefferson has been stride for stride with Cousins in that respect.
Few people remember how critical his plays were in comeback wins in lower-profile games. Take Week 4 in London against the Saints for example.
Jefferson had two catches for 20 yards and the three-yard rushing touchdown to give the Vikings a 25-22 lead late in the fourth quarter. Then, after Will Lutz tied the game with a 60-yard field goal, Jefferson caught a pass for 39 yards to set up Greg Joseph's game-winning field goal.
In Week 9 against the Commanders the Vikings trailed 17-7 in the fourth quarter before Jefferson dominated a drive that put momentum back in Minnesota's favor.
Jefferson had 58 of Minnesota's 68 yards (and drew a pass interference penalty) to set up Joseph for a field goal to cut the deficit to 17-10. Then, tied 17-17, Jefferson had a 10-yard run on 3rd-and-1 with 4:17 to play. Without that first down run, the Vikings would've had to kick a field goal and give Washington the ball with a lot of time left. Instead, the Vikings killed three-plus minutes and kicked the winning field with 12 seconds left.
Against the Patriots, Jefferson had the key 36-yard catch to set up the game-winning touchdown to Adam Thielen. And if you'll recall, Jefferson made the catch despite getting smashed on the play.
Against the Giants, Jefferson's 16- and 17-yard receptions, both coming on 3rd-and-long situations, set up Joseph for the walk-off, 61-yard field goal in overtime.
Jefferson has six games with double-digit receptions and eight games with at least nine catches. His 10 games with 100-plus yards is one shy of the NFL record 11 set by Michael Irvin in 1995, which has since been equaled by Calvin Johnson in 2012 and Cooper Kupp in 2021.
And when the games carry more meaning in November and December, Jefferson has been at his best. In his last five games he's averaging 10.2 catches and 132.6 yards.
But to King's point, wide receivers are almost never in the MVP conversation.
Randy Moss had four MVP votes in his rookie season with the Vikings in 1998 and Kupp got just one vote last season when he won the receiving triple crown by leading the NFL in receptions (145), yards (1,950) and receiving touchdowns (16).
Jerry Rice finished second in the MVP vote twice. In 1987 he had 22 touchdowns and finished with more votes than his quarterback, Joe Montana, but Denver QB John Elway won the MVP by throwing for 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Yes, that's a true story.
In 1995, Rice was second to Brett Favre, who threw for more than 4,400 yards with 38 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Rice had 122 catches for 1,848 yards and 15 touchdowns.
So long as Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are lighting up the league, Justin Jefferson can post the most incredible numbers in NFL history and still be a long shot to win MVP. It's just the way it is...
