Vikings Have Outside Shot at Having Three 1,000-Yard Receivers This Year
It would take a very prolific finish to the season, but the Vikings have an outside shot at finishing this year with three different 1,000-yard receivers. That's only happened five times in NFL history, and not since Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston of the 2008 Arizona Cardinals (though there are two other teams threatening to change that in 2023).
With three games to go, these are the totals for the Vikings' top three targets:
- T.J. Hockenson: 902
- Jordan Addison: 824
- Justin Jefferson: 682 (in seven games, two of which were cut short)
And here's what they'd need to average over the last three games — with Nick Mullens as their quarterback — to get to 1K:
- Hockenson: 32.7
- Addison: 58.7
- Jefferson: 106
Again, it's not something that would be classified as likely. But it's certainly not inconceivable, either. Hockenson should be able to get there fairly easily, Addison's big-play ability makes it doable for him, and Jefferson averages more receiving yards per game in his career (96.6) than every other player in NFL history. Granted, the vast majority of those games came with Kirk Cousins playing QB, but if there's anyone that can get 318 yards from Mullens over these last three weeks, it's Jefferson.
Hockenson has a great shot at surpassing Joe Sensor's 1,004 yards in 1981, which are currently the most receiving yards a Vikings tight end has ever had in a season.
Addison, who is coming off of a 111-yard, two-touchdown game against the Bengals, is sitting at 824 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie. He said this week that his goals for the season were 1,000 yards and ten touchdowns.
Jefferson would've obviously cruised way past the 1K mark again if he had been healthy all year. He's only played seven games this season, and two of those (Chiefs and Raiders) were cut short due to injury. In his five full games, he's had 150, 159, 149, 85, and 84 yards.
The Vikings aren't the only team with a chance at getting three players to 1K receiving yards this season.
49ers
- Brandon Aiyuk: 1,090
- George Kittle: 865
- Deebo Samuel: 787
Jaguars
- Christian Kirk: 787
- Calvin Ridley: 781
- Evan Engram: 729
It'll be interesting to keep an eye on those trios, in addition to the Vikings' big three, over these final three weeks. Will anyone join the 1980 Chargers, 1989 Redskins, 1995 Falcons, 2004 Colts, and 2008 Cardinals in making NFL history?
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