Justin Jefferson vs Lamar Jackson

“Round 3: Justin Jefferson (WR – MIN) Wow. Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Justin Jefferson ?”

“This wasn’t Jefferson’s fault, however. Among wide receivers with 50+ targets, Jefferson ranked 58th in catchable target rate (71%). J.J. McCarthy stunk, and all indications are that Kyler Murray is the clear favorite to be the starter in 2026, and possibly beyond.”

“From WR2 in 2024 to WR21 in 2025, Justin Jefferson took quite the fall in production.”

“Jefferson should immediately become Murray’s go-to receiver, making an overall WR1 finish well within reach.”

“Malik Nabers, CeeDee Lamb, and Justin Jefferson all have similar LTV scores in the same range as Love’s.”

“The Ballers agree that if Kyler takes the leading QB role, they are confident that Jefferson will be back as a top-tier WR. However, they see him more as a back-end WR1.”

“Justin Jefferson has been a fantasy superstar since he entered the NFL. Unfortunately, the veteran is coming off a massively disappointing season.”

“He opened with Justin Jefferson after a surprising run of young quarterbacks fell in the first round, then doubled up at quarterback anyway, taking Joe Burrow and Caleb Williams back to back once he realized how many were sliding.”

“Justin Jefferson had fewer receiving yards in 2025 (1,048) than he did in 2023, when he only played 10 games (1,074). Jefferson also had a career-low 12.5 yards per reception and a career-low two receiving touchdowns.”

“We are coming off the worst season of Jefferson's early career. The counting stats were modest for Jefferson, catching 84 passes for 1,048 yards, but he had career lows everywhere across the board. He only had 2 touchdowns.”

“The only reason I have Justin Jefferson behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Amon-Ra St. Brown is the quarterback situation in Minnesota. Kyler Murray should be an upgrade, but Minnesota has one of the worst quarterback rooms since Jefferson entered the league.”

“It doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine what was holding Justin Jefferson back last season. While Kyler Murray is a flawed quarterback, he has proven an ability to generate big fantasy seasons for his wide receivers and should be a big improvement upon what J.J. McCarthy showed last season.”

“Injuries and a steep decline in rushing production cratered Lamar Jackson ‘s fantasy value in 2025. After finishing QB1 in fantasy scoring in 2024, Jackson plummeted to a QB20 fantasy finish last season and was QB16 in fantasy points per game at the position. Jackson lost three games to an early-season hamstring injury and one game to a late-season back injury.”

“Lamar Jackson cratered many fantasy rosters in 2025. Before an early October hamstring injury, he was on pace for 3,700 passing yards, 437 rushing yards, and 47 total TDs.”

“The most obvious thing to consider is your positional strengths and weaknesses — trading for Lamar Jackson when you already have Josh Allen probably isn’t a good idea.”

“If you want an elite QB, pocket your picks for a round and a half and take Lamar Jackson, instead.”

“There isn’t a single drafted player on the Ravens that goes higher than I would take them, with Lamar Jackson standing out as the single best 1QB value I have ever seen if you want to get a top-two quarterback, going at pick 46, 19 picks past QB1, Josh Allen.”

“With plenty of time to recover from last season, Jackson is a ticking time bomb for fantasy production.”

“Things did not go well for Lamar Jackson in 2025, but he still displayed his ceiling early on before injuries started to stack up.”

“For what it’s worth, Lamar did speak highly of Doyle’s offense this spring, saying: “ It’s a different system than what I’m accustomed to being in, and I feel like there’s going to be a lot of explosiveness this year.”

“The case for Lamar staying near the top of the market: he’s not even 30 years old, he was still playing at an elite level in weeks one and two last season before his injury in week three derailed the rest of his year, and he has never failed to have an MVP-caliber first season under a new play caller, which is exactly the situation he’s in again this year.”

“Jackson's 2025 performance was marred by injury and a subpar level of play (by his standards). Therefore, while he has tremendous leverage by virtue of the restructure and the $84.34MM cap number it created for 2027, he may want to come to the negotiating table on the heels of a better season.”

“Todd Monken, reflecting on where things went wrong in Baltimore last season, feels that he didn't get the most out of Lamar Jackson. "I didn't coach well enough," Monken said. "I didn't get Lamar to play at his best when the best was needed."”

“Jackson mentioned that Doyle is running a completely different system from what Todd Monken deployed last season, while there are some concepts from what Greg Roman ran in 2022. Jackson expects more "explosiveness" this season, and Doyle is proving to be a very creative playcaller. "I feel like there's going to be a lot of explosiveness this year," Jackson said. "The way Declan calls plays and his creativity with his mind — how detailed he is — it's mind-blowing. I'm excited."”