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There aren't any football fans who don't love what second-year receiver Justin Jefferson is doing with the Minnesota Vikings. The 22-year-old has backed up his superb rookie year, continuing to grow in leaps and bounds as a receiver.
Already this season, Jefferson has surpassed the 100 yards receiving mark five times, with his best being 182 yards and one touchdown in the loss to the Detroit Lions a couple of weeks ago.
Lebron James praises Jefferson
In his most recent outing, Jefferson was a significant contributor in a tough NFC road game against the Chicago Bears. The Vikings wide receiver caught a touchdown in the first quarter, giving his team a crucial early lead. The Vikings went on to win the game 9-17 as they now hold a 7-7 record on the season.
Jefferson continues to impress in every game he plays and a certain NBA star has taken notice. LA Lakers and NBA superstar LeBron James took to his social media after Jefferson's play against Chicago, and to say he is impressed is an understatement.
It is hard not to like what Jefferson is doing, especially when you consider he is in just his second NFL season. In his last five games, Jefferson has caught 5 touchdowns and has 560 receiving yards.
While Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen are a well-known pass-catch duo in the NFL. Some could argue that Jefferson is already as important to the Vikings as Thielen is. Jefferson has shouldered much of the receiving responsibility of late since Thielen suffered an injury against the Lions in Week 13.
He is now arguably Kirk Cousins' favorite target when Thielen is not on the field. Jefferson has caught six or more passes in nine games this season, with the most coming against Detroit, where he caught 11 of his 14 targets for 182 receiving yards.
In his rookie season, Jefferson took on all who challenged him. He amassed an impressive 1,400 receiving yards along with seven touchdowns and had a catch rate of 70.4%.
It looks like Jefferson is on track to break his receiving yards record from last year with three games left to play. He currently has 1,288 receiving yards along with nine touchdowns following his catch against the Bears.
Jefferson was selected to the Pro Bowl in his rookie year and it looks like he is on his way there again thanks to his performances this season. Receiving praise from other superstar athletes such as LeBron James can only help grow his reputation.
As a sophomore, he is quickly making a case for being one of the best receivers in the NFL. That is quite an achievement in itself considering all the talent in the league.
