Justin Jefferson's milestone moment shouldn't be lost in the Minnesota Vikings' dismal outing Thursday night against the Los Angeles Chargers.
A 15-yard catch late in the second quarter put Jefferson over the 8,000-yard receiving mark for his career, making him the youngest player in NFL history to breach the benchmark.
Jefferson (26 years, 129 days) bested Randy Moss's previous record by 168 days. He's just the third player to go for 8,000-plus yards in his first six seasons (Moss, Torry Holt).
That Jefferson snagged the record on a wide-open in-breaking route against zone coverage was apropos, as it's the type of play he's feasted on during his career.
What makes Jefferson's record-setting start to his career more impressive is that he's racked up 8,034 yards in 84 games while playing with a slew of different quarterbacks. In his six-year career, Jefferson has caught passes from eight different signal-callers: Kirk Cousins, Sam Darnold, Carson Wentz, Nick Mullens, J.J. McCarthy, Sean Mannion, Joshua Dobbs and Jaren Hall.
In Moss's road to 8K, he set the previous record in 93 games with four quarterbacks: Daunte Culpepper, Todd Bouman, Gus Frerotte and Spergon Wynn.
Jefferson's ability to produce regardless of who is under center in Minnesota is a testament to his talent and route-running ability, which allow him to find space regardless of the matchup.
