Matthew Coller: Justin Jefferson broke a crazy record, why didn't anyone notice?

Jefferson's consistency doesn't move the media needle but it's a main reason the Vikings are 8-2.

Nov 17, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) gives a thumbs up to the Tennessee Titans sideline during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

You ever hear the old phrase, “if it bleeds, it leads?” That might explain why there was so little discussion about Justin Jefferson’s latest record.

On Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, Jefferson passed Torry Holt for the most receiving yards ever through the first five years of a player’s career. Also notably right behind him on the list: Jerry Rice and Randy Moss.

He didn’t just break the record, he passed those legends with seven games left to go in the season.

Before you nod your head at another Jefferson feat and move onto worrying about the right guard against Chicago, can we just stop for a moment and think about this one? Jefferson’s 6,811 yards through 70 games are almost 1,000 more than Larry Fitzgerald put up in 76 games. Moss had 80 games to get to 6,743 yards. AJ Green, Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, Tyreek Hill, Mike Evans, Marvin Harrison — these guys are all looking up at Jefferson through five years.

By the end of this season, Jefferson is going to be up several hundred yards on Holt and the rest of the receiver GOATs. And even crazier is the fact he missed a handful of games last year. Had he not suffered a hamstring injury, it would have been even more of a blowout. That is bananas. Wild. Insane. Nuts. Bonkers. Batty. Impossible. Unhinged.

Yet, mostly crickets.

The broadcast mentioned it when he passed the record and didn’t bring it up again.

A Google search revealed a couple web posts about it. Nothing on the front pages of ESPN, CBS or Yahoo! Sports. I can’t say that I watched every minute of every TV debate show but I did not come across any discussions of whether Jefferson has a chance at being the best receiver of all time or any other type contrived topic surrounding his newest record.

Naturally, the Cowboys disaster, the Jets disaster, the Bengals disaster, and the Bears disaster got most of the NFL’s Monday chatter. If it bleeds, it leads.

Jefferson has entered the Larry Fitzgerald or Andre Johnson realm of being so consistently excellent and uncontroversial that he doesn’t move the needle. He doesn’t get the debates going. He doesn’t rake in clicks. He just catches everything in his stratosphere, week after week.

This offseason Jefferson was a headline pretty often but not because of anything he did. “Should the Vikings trade Jefferson for _____” was widely used to clickbait unsuspecting football fans who somehow thought there was some universe where the Vikings would trade a player who is capable of gaining more yards receiving through five years than any other human to ever live.

After the draft went by and the thousands of keystrokes were wasted with fake trades, there was one last desperate hope for Jefferson to be at the center of the NFL conversation: If he held out while negotiating a long-term extension.

Boy, for those couple OTA practices he missed while wrapping up negotiations, it was a pretty good time for those dreaming about using the word “diva” to describe him.

No such luck. He signed a new deal before minicamp and got to work with Sam Darnold.

That went right in line with all of his uncontroversial behavior regarding the contract. In 2023, when negotiations began, he continued to practice during training camp rather than sitting out, as Ja’Marr Chase did this year. As the process played out, there were no leaks. No cryptic social media posts. No interviews where he went off about his value to the franchise.

But hey, maybe he’ll hate his new quarterback, right? You can imagine internet agitators holding their phones up to the TV trying to record any sign of Jefferson being frustrated with Sam Darnold. Sorry, none of that either. Turns out there is more than one quarterback who can throw the ball his way and have magic happen.

Meanwhile, if you Google Jordan Addison’s Instagram post from a few weeks ago where he wrote “Free3,” apparently a phrase of his for years, you will find hundreds of trade proposals as there was a spark of the Viking receiver diva dream coming true.

Jefferson told the local media that he suggested to Addison that he remain patient and keep trying his best. I don’t think that made Get Up’s rundown.

Nobody wants quiet leaders at receiver. Guys who write books called Just Give Me The Damn Ball, or pull out cell phones after scoring a touchdown or dump popcorn on themselves or change their names to ungrammatical Spanish numbers or arrive at camp in a helicopter… that’s what the world wants that position to be, even if the majority of great stars are more like Jefferson than Chad Ochenta y cinco.

There might be some exception if Jefferson had a ring. Not that a receiver could win a ring by himself but big NBA media has taught us all that nobody is good at their sport without rings. Jefferson’s lack of time on the playoff stage will probably need to change to ever enter the toxic chatter topics. Maybe if his coach was a media magnet like Dan Campbell there would be more to it but I don’t see Amon-Ra St. Viking Killer getting much TV time either.

Anyway, Jefferson has the second most yards in the league and the team is 8-2. Jefferson has between 4-8 catches every game and has gone over 80 yards in eight of 10 games. Nothing to see here.

If the Vikings are going to reach the playoffs and make noise, they will need Jefferson’s consistency — and probably patience at times — to get there. If they win, the Vikings discussion will likely surround whether Darnold is going to get a contract extension or if they’re going to switch to McCarthy, no matter how many receptions Jefferson has. That’s the nature of the beast, I guess.

This is just a long way of saying: Don’t lose sight of what we are witnessing with Jefferson just because it doesn’t bleed. The Vikings have had so many stellar receivers along the way that it’s easy to take for granted the invaluable piece of the organization that he has become. These dudes only come along so often. Appreciate it, even if it doesn’t get talked about as much as another failed Jets GM on a Monday morning.