Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has set himself an incredible target heading into this upcoming season.

Having been taken in the 1st round by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Justin Jefferson has certainly made a pretty big impact in the NFL in his first two seasons and has set himself up to put up some incredible numbers across his career if he can keep up the pace.

In his rookie year he put up 1,400 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns, before increasing those numbers even further in 2021 as he moved up to 1,616 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. Now he did naturally get more snaps in 2021 compared to 2020 as the league moved to a 17-game schedule, but it is still an even impressive jump to make at such a young age.

1,616 is an impressive number, and ranks as the 21st highest-ranked season in NFL history when it comes to yards put up, but it was still some way off from being the best, that honour going to Cooper Kupp of the Los Angeles Rams who put up 1,947, which was the second-highest of all time behind only Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson’s 1,964 that he put up in 2012.

And those numbers are very much in Jefferson’s sights as he gets set for the 2022 season, and he wants to leave them behind and go into the history books.

What’s he said?

Speaking to reporters (via Yahoo.com), Jefferson has claimed that he wants to go into the history books and become the first wide receiver to break the 2,000-yard mark in a season: 

“I hope so. I think I can. Hopefully, everything goes right and I can get that 2,000. That’s my goal.”

He certainly came across as confident in his belief as he also wanted to make a point stating that he felt he was the best receiver in the NFL, even above the aforementioned Kupp and even above former division rival Davante Adams:

“That’s the confidence level, and I just feel like with the year that I’m going to have that. I’ll be the best receiver. Just because all that Davante Adams has done. I’m just showing my respect for him but agree that after the year I’ll pass him. Coop is good, but I’ll say he’s behind me.”

Is it possible?

2,000 for an individual has been done in the NFL before, but that has always been from a running back, and even then only eight men have reached that milestone, but as Kupp showed last year, now that the league has added an extra game you can come pretty close to that mark.

To do so would need a pretty significant jump on Jefferson’s part, as he’ll need to go from the 95.1 yards per game that he put up to roughly 118 yards per game in 2022, but now that he’s put that target on him and corners are going to want to shut him down, he’s made it all the harder to make it a reality.

But one thing is for sure, if he can keep up the trajectory that he’s on now, it will be fun to see him try.