Dumbest take of 2023? CBS Sports host says Justin Jefferson is a 'system guy'
The mother of all bad takes has been foisted upon us and it's a clear sign we need NFL football back so national talking heads stop embarrassing themselves.
On Tuesday's Maggie & Perloff Show on CBS Sports Radio, co-host Andrew Perloff laid down what could be the far-and-away winner for worst opinion of 2023 when he said Justin Jefferson is a system wide receiver.
No, that isn't a misprint. He said it.
"I think he's awesome but I do think he's a bit of a system guy, so No. 2 on this list makes no sense," said Perloff.
The two hosts, Maggie Gray and Andrew Perloff, were discussing the NFL's Top 100 list that featured Jefferson as the No. 2 player in the NFL, as voted on by NFL players.
"Justin Jefferson is definitely a product of Kirk Cousins. He's a bit of system guy" pic.twitter.com/fDFlcKLOzg
— Maggie and Perloff (@MaggieandPerl) August 8, 2023
"The whole list is not friendly enough to quarterbacks," Perloff stated. "The top three in Patrick Mahomes, Justin Jefferson makes no sense but Jalen Hurts is three."
"He's not even the best wide receiver. And why would a wide receiver be above all the quarterbacks," Perloff continued.
What part of Jefferson's league leading 128 catches and 1,800 receiving yards in 2022 says he's not the best receiver in the NFL? What part of Jefferson having the best first three years of any wide receiver in NFL history says he's not the best receiver in the NFL?
But wait. There's more.
"I love Justin Jefferson but he's definitely a product of Kirk Cousins in that offense," Perloff said with a straight face.
Did we just somehow erase the 196 receptions, 3,016 yards and 17 touchdowns Jefferson produced in the 2020 and 2021 when (*checks notes*) Mike Zimmer was forcing a run-first offense down everybody's throat?
"Look at the numbers that Cousins's receivers always have. They always do really well," Perloff inexplicably continued.
Let's do some actual research on that point, starting with 2015, Cousins's first full season as a starting quarterback when he worked under then Washington offensive coordinator Sean McVay.
Cousins threw for 4,166 yards, 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The top three receivers for Washington, in order, were:
- TE Jordan Reed - 87 receptions, 952 yards, 11 TD
- WR Pierre Garcon - 72 rec, 777 yards, 6 TD
- WR Jamison Crowder - 59 rec, 604 yards 2 TD
How about 2016, again with Washington and McVay calling the plays?
Cousins threw for 4,917 yards, 25 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The top three receivers for Washington, in order:
- WR Pierre Garcon - 79 rec, 1,041 yards, 3 TD
- WR DeSean Jackson - 56 rec, 1,005 yards, 4 TD
- WR Jamison Crowder - 67 rec, 847 yards, 7 TD
Now for 2017, when Matt Cavanaugh was his offensive coordinator in Washington.
Cousins threw for 4,093 yards, 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The top three receivers for Washington, in order:
- WR Jamison Crowder - 66 rec, 789 yards, 3 TD
- TE Vernon Davis - 43 rec, 648 yards, 3 TD
- WR Ryan Grant - 45 rec, 573 yards, 4 TD
It wasn't until Cousins came to Minnesota that he consistently had a wide receiver breaking the 1,000-yard mark.
To say Jefferson is a product of Cousins in the O'Connell offense just shows that this was a take fired off without any actual thought. Cousins had two seasons in the McVay offense (which Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell's offense hails from) and produced just two 1,000-yard receivers.
Cousins certainly deserves some credit for Jefferson's success. We'd be dumb to make the argument otherwise but saying Cousins is the ONLY reason for the monumental success Jefferson has had early is his career is an awful take.
Co-host Maggie Gray responded to Perloff's Jefferson comments saying, "There were throws last year, where I feel like Cousins was trying to put these into really tight windows and it could have been awful if he wasn't throwing to Justin Jefferson."
"That one play against your Bills," Perloff piped in, presumably talking about the incredible fourth-and-18 one-handed grab in the fourth quarter.
We're not sure though because there was also a catch later in that very drive where he caught a strike from Cousins only to be hammered by a Bills safety and still hold on. Or was it the touchdown catch in the first quarter with a Bills corner right on Jefferson? Or maybe a pair of toe-tapping sideline grabs in the third quarter and overtime? Who knows?
"No, that whole game frankly," responded Gray.
Later in the segment, Gray said Jefferson is "one of those guys where he could be playing with whoever and he's going to look good."
Perloff responded: "You guys say that but it's never been true about any wide receiver in the history of the NFL. Except for Davante Adams last year."
His co-host pointed out Tim Brown made the Hall of Fame playing with 20 different QBs while a producer popped in making the case that Randy Moss made everybody better throughout his career.
In a list of bad takes, this one from CBS Sports' Andrew Perloff may hold the No. 1 spot for a very long time, much like Jefferson may hold the No. 1 wide receiver spot in the NFL for many more years.
