1.22 - MIN: Justin Jefferson WR/LSU (Jersey #18)

[Illadelegend215]

1 minute ago, battle2heaven said:

Justin Jefferson is an underrated athlete. You don't notice it when he plays, because he's so smooth and graceful, but the subtle hints and nuances are there in his footwork, route running and body control.

According to RAS, he has the 4th best RAS in this receiver class at 9.69. For comparison, Denzel Mims is 9.76

Here's Jefferson's RAS card. One underrated factor, his 33 inch arms! He also had an absurd contested catch rate last year of 92% (https://www.pff.com/news/draft-2020-nfl-draft-why-lsus-justin-jefferson-may-be-the-best-slot-receiver-in-the-class)

So this isn't like a Treadwell situation where they plucked a SEC receiver with subpar athleticism. Jefferson is graceful, agile, fearless, and productive. In all honesty, when I watch him play, he reminds me of Adam Thielen. 

Also here is another article showcasing his ability to win on the boundary; which he played the majority of 2018.

https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2020/04/06/scouting-breakdown-why-lsus-justin-jefferson-is-more-than-a-slot-receiver/

He is a solid number two guy for us. I just feel like we should focus on need instead of BPA. We had Stefon Diggs, a much more polished receiver that could be considered the BEST route runner in all of football. We barely used him, what is the point of picking this kid up, who isn’t as talented, and will be underutilized just like diggs was? 

[battle2heaven]

3 minutes ago, Illadelegend215 said:

He is a solid number two guy for us. I just feel like we should focus on need instead of BPA. We had Stefon Diggs, a much more polished receiver that could be considered the BEST route runner in all of football. We barely used him, what is the point of picking this kid up, who isn’t as talented, and will be underutilized just like diggs was? 

Because we still need the THREAT of receivers. If we did not have any weapons on the outside, teams can just stack the box and dare us to beat them in the air. Also, the Vikings aren't done building the roster, they have a bounty of picks the rest of the draft.

Josh Jones and Ezra Cleveland are still there. Vikings have the ammo to move up. Only one iOL was drafted in the first, there are still players available there. Just relax and see what transpires.

 

 

[RpMc]

Focusing on pure need instead of BPAAPON is a bad idea.

I was as anti-receiver as it gets on this board, but I can understand the Jefferson pick given how the board fell, and think he will be successful here.

[SteelKing728]

Not to be a downer, because I really like Jefferson, but if we waited a year, we could've got his (better) teammate Ja'marr Chase. Dude was prolific last season.

[RpMc]

1 minute ago, SteelKing728 said:

Not to be a downer, because I really like Jefferson, but if we waited a year, we could've got his (better) teammate Ja'marr Chase. Dude was prolific last season.

If we are in a position to get Chase next year, WR wouldn't be on the list of needs.

[Ozzy]

21 minutes ago, Illadelegend215 said:

So when we ignore him the same way we ignored diggs, what does that do for us? We are a run first team, we should be addressing our defense or oline. The problem we have is that we only truly utilize one wide receiver when passing the ball. If thielen is as special as you all think he is, we could afford to wait and drafted a receiver today. We have a terrible offensive line and we lost some artillery on defense. Why not focus on that instead?

Who says Jefferson has the character problems Diggs does?  With Jefferson they get a Diggs clone potentially without the attitude and behavior problems.  Do people forget how big of a pain in the butt Diggs was in terms of his outbursts on the sidelines and odd damn social media personality.  I seriously doubt Jefferson will post stuff on social media when he does not get the football enough.  Oh and Jefferson is cheaper than Diggs as well.  Could the void have been filled 2nd or 3rd round?  Maybe but that is a big *** maybe.

 

Only OL there worth while was Josh Jones and clearly he dropped for a reason, maybe he could play OG in this system maybe not.  And maybe they are working on a trade for Trent Williams who knows.  Either way Jefferson fills a massive need and so does Gladney, so onto the next need and they have multiple shots at filling them with a ton of draft picks coming up.

 

Clearly the Vikings like Samia a lot more than most realize.  And again who at OG would have been picked there?  All of these guards are still on the board and one could easily be around for the Vikings in round 2 or 3.  Could argue no pure OG was picked in the first round honestly, so they are all still there in the 2nd, Ruiz maybe could play OG but I think he ends up as a C in the NFL.

 

Jonah Jackson Ohio State GS
Netane Muti Fresno State RS JR
John Simpson Clemson
Lloyd Cushenberry LSU JR
Jack Driscoll Auburn
Shane Lemieux Oregon RS
Logan Stenberg Kentucky RS
Damien Lewis LSU
Ben Bredeson Michigan

[vike daddy]

7 hours ago, Krauser said:

Run first team, whatever. They need 2 legitimate WRs. The whole point of Kubiak’s system is that the run opens up intermediate holes in zone and creates one-on-ones for deep shots.

WR is one of the premium positions in the modern game, 2nd most important position on offense. The Vikings have Thielen, who’s legitimately good but turns 30 this summer, and no one else. Starting the season with nothing better than a mid-round rookie opposite Thielen would’ve been a recipe for disaster: teams could double him all day and the Vikings would have no answer.

So why did they trade Diggs? Well obviously, they didn’t want to trade him, but what are you going to do if a star and team leader demands a trade? At least Spielman was a good poker player and got a fair return. I hate the fact that they were forced to trade him, but it happened, and that’s not a good reason not to replace him. In fact, I’d say Diggs was roughly the 2nd most valuable player on the team last year, so replacing him was a huge priority.

Trying to replace Diggs meant finding a receiver with enough speed to get deep, route running skills to get open, and ball skills to be a reliable target. There weren’t that many options beyond the top 3. Reagor is fast but didn’t run much of a route tree and he had a bunch of drops. Mims is athletic and made some circus catches but he also didn’t run much of a route tree (except at the Senior Bowl), plus he’s older and a senior which can be bad news in a 1st round WR. Higgins is a jump ball specialist with mediocre athletic testing. Aiyuk is fast but more of a gadget player, Hamler is fast but tiny and with poor ball skills, Pittman is a good WR (my favorite of those left on the board) but not a great deep threat, and then you’re already down to the Chase Claypools and the Antonio Gandy-Goldens.

Jefferson is a really clean prospect: athletic, young, productive, with route running skills and good hands. He has a very high floor, and a high ceiling too. The concerns about him are mostly theoretical — because he played in the slot last year and saw a lot of zone coverage, it’s not clear that he can play well outside and beat press. But it’s not like he doesn’t have the size, quicks or toughness to do that, and it’s not like he moved to the slot only because he failed as an outside receiver.

The Vikings won’t use him in the slot that much, since they mostly play 2 WR sets. But he could be the slot in a 3 WR set with Sharpe or Johnson coming on to play outside. Kubiak reportedly thinks very highly of Jefferson, and so does most of the draft community and the NFL in general.

This is at worst a solid pick at an obvious position of need.

stop making sense.

[whitehops]

I was firmly on the “take a WR in the second round” train but didn’t foresee Jefferson being available at 22. Considering how the board fell and we still got our corner at 31 I love this pick. 
 

We’re a “run first” team but we still throw the ball more than half the time, and Jefferson is probably one of the safest picks you can make. He displayed all the necessarily skills to start day one.

 

i hope they draft another receiver in round 3/4, obviously Tyler Johnson would be a coup. We’re still so incredibly thin at WR if thielen or Jefferson gets injured.

[battle2heaven]

8 minutes ago, whitehops said:

i hope they draft another receiver in round 3/4, obviously Tyler Johnson would be a coup. We’re still so incredibly thin at WR if thielen or Jefferson gets injured

They aren't done at receiver. Do I foresee a day 2 pick on receiver? No. 

But early day 4? Yep. And that player will still have startable potential because this is such a deep class.

[swede700]

28 minutes ago, battle2heaven said:

They aren't done at receiver. Do I foresee a day 2 pick on receiver? No. 

But early day 4? Yep. And that player will still have startable potential because this is such a deep class.

When does Day 4 happen?  After the draft?  

Like I said previously, I'm not a huge fan of the Jefferson selection, but I understand why it was made and am certainly going to wait and see how it goes.  I personally still would have preferred Fulton or Jones.  Chavous called him a Cris Carter clone, which is obviously high regard.  

[SemperFeist]

3 minutes ago, swede700 said:

When does Day 4 happen?  After the draft?  

Like I said previously, I'm not a huge fan of the Jefferson selection, but I understand why it was made and am certainly going to wait and see how it goes.  I personally still would have preferred Fulton or Jones.  Chavous called him a Cris Carter clone, which is obviously high regard.  

Do you not like the player? Or do you not like the idea of using the pick on a WR? 

[swede700]

8 minutes ago, SemperFeist said:

Do you not like the player? Or do you not like the idea of using the pick on a WR? 

From everything I've read about him, I'm just not a fan of the player himself.  I hope he proves me wrong, but I just don't see it.  And as a result, if one of the top 3 WRs weren't available (which they weren't), I don't use the pick on a WR.  

[vikesfan89]

He'll start as the 2 or 3WR but whose to say that he won't become the#1 wr in 2-3 if Adam slows down some

[SemperFeist]

A lot of Keenan Allen comps out there.

[battle2heaven]

2 minutes ago, SemperFeist said:

A lot of Keenan Allen comps out there.

Another one from me: Reggie Wayne