Justin Jefferson Being Disrespected by Rookie of the Year Odds

Justin Jefferson is incredible. He was incredible during his final season with the LSU Tigers, and he's picked up right where he left off with the Minnesota Vikings. Since 1950, Jefferson is one of four wide receivers in NFL history that have recorded at least 910 receiving yards through their first 11 games.

It certainly feels worth noting that he didn't even make his first NFL start until Week 3. And yet, despite the historic stuff that Jefferson is doing, he essentially has no shot to win the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year award, according to FanDuel Sportsbook's NFL futures.

That honor will almost certainly belong to Justin Herbert, who is essentially viewed as a lock at -900. Jefferson, meanwhile, is all the way down at +850.

To be fair, the honor almost always goes to quarterbacks. And Herbert legitimately might go down as one of the best rookie passers in NFL history. But the gap between Herbert and Jefferson should be a lot smaller than it is right now.

Jefferson isn't just the best rookie WR, he's already one of the best WRs in the NFL, full stop.

He's currently a top-10 WR in terms of yards (918; No. 8), yards per reception (17.7; No. 4) and yards per target (12.8; No. 1). Since becoming a starter, Jefferson has averaged 94.2 receiving yards per game, which would rank No. 3 in the NFL. That figure would put him one slot behind DK Metcalf (94.5) and one above Tyreek Hill (92.8).

Even the most heralded first-round picks don't come into the league and produce at the rate Jefferson has. That may not be enough to ultimately net him the OROY, but it's ridiculous that he's this far back in the odds.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.