NFL Offensive Player of the Year: Justin Jefferson

Last week, we saw Justin Jefferson crowned the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year after another stunning season with Minnesota.

Since joining the league, Jefferson has put up incredible numbers in terms of receiving yards and touchdowns scored, and he was very much deserving of the award this year as he helped the Vikings to a 13-4 record and the NFC North title.

Jefferson has now been in the NFL for three years, and in that time he's been a Pro Bowler every year, led the league in receptions and receiving yards in 2022, and averaged nearly 100 receiving yards a game throughout his career so far.

Best receiver in the business

On top of being the Offensive Player of the Year, it is hard to argue against Jefferson being the best receiver in the league right now when he is so consistent. Despite teams knowing how good he is and often double-covering him, the LSU product sill seems to always find a way to get his hands on the ball.

Last year's winner Cooper Kupp was like that, and he could have been in contention for the award again as well had injury not curtailed his season.

Jefferson joins a star-studded list of players to have won the award, such as Titans juggernaut running back Derrick Henry, former Rams running back Todd Gurley and superstar quarterback Cam Newton.

All of those players put up insane numbers en route to winning the award in their respective seasons, and that's exactly what Jefferson did last season.

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Shining amid Vikings struggles

The Vikings, +400 to win the NFL Championship in 2024, struggled a lot at times but Jefferson helped keep that team going and without question earned them the majority of their 13 wins last season.

It's difficult to determine who could be next season's offensive player of the year, but we can likely discount quarterbacks since they are more likely to earn the MVP award.

Looking simply at receivers, running backs and tight ends, someone who might be worth making a note of for the upcoming season is Ja'Marr Chase.

Chase, who played alongside Jefferson at LSU, has similarly put up some monster numbers at receiver for the Bengals since entering the league in 2021. 

He likely would've been in contention for the Offensive Player of the Year award this season had he not been injured and missed five games.

For these types of markets, you need an explosive player that can top a number of key stat categories on a successful team. Chase fits the mould for that, especially with Joe Burrow throwing the ball to him, and 2023 could be his year.