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Justin Jefferson is Following in Odell Beckham Jr.’s Footsteps, Is that Good News for the Minnesota Vikings?

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(L-R) Odell Beckham Jr. of the Cleveland Browns rushes the ball during the fourth quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 17, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio; Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings runs with the ball in the first quarter the game against the Dallas Cowboys at U.S. Bank Stadium on October 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

These days, when you compare a young wide receiver like the Minnesota Vikings Justin Jefferson to Odell Beckham Jr., it might not be a good thing. Beckham is now on his way to his third team after dramatically forcing his way off both the New York Giants and the Cleveland Browns.

However, after several relatively unproductive seasons, it’s easy to forget just how exciting Beckham was when he burst on the NFL scene for Big Blue in 2014. The Vikings’ young star is helping to remind us just how good the now-problematic wideout was early in his career. Jefferson just hit a milestone that is impressive but still not as good as what Beckham did early in his career.

The first three seasons of Odell Beckham Jr.’s career were excellent

Outside of Randy Moss, there isn’t an NFL wide receiver who rose to national prominence quite like Odell Beckham Jr.

The No. 12 overall pick in the 2014 draft out of LSU took the Big Apple by storm in his rookie year. Beckham recorded 91 catches for 1,305 yards and scored 12 touchdowns in his debut season. He also led the in yards per game with 108.8.

The pièce de résistance of this first season came on Nov. 23, 2014, when he made a career-defining catch against the Dallas Cowboys. The diving backward, one-handed catch is still one of the most famous catches in NFL history and helped raise OBJ’s profile as much if not more than his impressive stat line. 

Year two for Beckham was an improvement on his already-impressive first season. In 2015, he caught 96 for 1,450 yards with 13 touchdowns. Beckham kept up his top-of-the-league production in his third season, catching 101 balls for 1,367 yards and scoring 10 TDs. 

In 2017, Beckham broke his ankle and missed the majority of the season. From there, injury and issues with the team would plague his Giants career. Those first three seasons, though, still stand up among the best ever for the position. 

Justin Jefferson became the second-fastest receiver ever to 2,000 yards

Justin Jefferson went to LSU just like Odell Beckham Jr. The Minnesota Vikings drafted him in the first round in 2020, just like the organization did with Randy Moss two decades earlier. Like these two receivers, Jefferson also wasted no time establishing himself as one of the best pass-catchers in the game.

In his rookie season — which, with COVID-19, was unlike any season in NFL history — Jefferson dominated opponents and put up incredible numbers. Last year he produced 88 catches for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns, leading to a Pro Bowl nod.

His sophomore season is off to a good start on a personal level as well. Through nine weeks in 2021, Jefferson has 46 catches for 632 yards and four scores. His last game, a three-catch, 69-yard, one TD performance in a last-second loss to the Baltimore Ravens, put him over 2,000 career receiving yards.

Accounting for over 2,000 receiving yards in just 24 career games is incredibly impressive. It even took his franchise-mate Moss 26 games to hit that mark.

However, there is one player in NFL history to get to 2K receiving yards quicker than Jefferson.

You guessed it.

OBJ did it in just 21 games.

Will Jefferson eventually become unhappy in Minnesota like OBJ did in New York? 

(L-R) Odell Beckham Jr. of the Cleveland Browns rushes the ball during the fourth quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 17, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio; Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings runs with the ball in the first quarter the game against the Dallas Cowboys at U.S. Bank Stadium on October 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(L-R) Odell Beckham Jr., Justin Jefferson | Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images; Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images.

What started out as a promising marriage between an elite WR, a franchise QB, and one of the NFL’s premier franchises ultimately disintegrated, leading to a trade and the Odell Beckham Jr. saga we have today.

After three personally glorious years with the Giants, Beckham became disenchanted with the coaching staff— which had changed from Tom Coughlin to Ben McAdoo to Pat Shurmur in OBJ’s time there — and aging signal-caller Eli Manning.

The WR was also unhappy with the team having only one playoff appearance in his five seasons in New York, despite his contributions.

Beckham signed a massive five-year, $95 million contract extension with the G Men ahead of the 2018 season. He forced his way out of town, though, after just one year.

Jefferson has only been in the league for a year and a half. But, there are already parallels between him and Beckham from a career perspective. In addition to sharing similarly gaudy numbers, both these players have experienced losing early in their careers.

So far, Jefferson’s Vikings are just 10-14.

Like with the Giants, some of this lack of success is caused by the head coach (Mike Zimmer) and quarterback (Kirk Cousins).

Cousins is likely in Minny for at least one more year (with $45 million owed in 2022),. However, there’s a good chance Jefferson will have a new coach next year. If the Vikings don’t rally and make the playoffs, it’s almost inevitable the club will fire Zimmer.

So, Jefferson has a mediocre QB, a possible rotating door in the head coach’s office, and a growing persona and (possibly) ego fueled by incredible early success. Sound familiar?

Jefferson should just keep in mind what OBJ learned the hard way. The grass is not always greener on the other side (or at the other franchise).

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference

RELATED: An Old-School Former Coach Explains Why the Browns are Better Without Odell Beckham Jr.: ‘Are You More Happy if You Had 8 Catches and We Lost or if You Had 3 Catches and We Win?’

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Tim Crean
Sports Editor

Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.

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Author photo
Tim Crean Sports Editor

Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.

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