The star receiver had a frustrating season, but excelled with this particular route.
Against all odds, Justin Jefferson eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards, a career low but still remarkable given the Vikings' offensive struggles and three starting quarterbacks at times in 2025. J.J. McCarthy struggled, Carson Wentz started a few games, and Max Brosmer bombed in his limited action. Jefferson isn't without blame in 2025. At times, he was missed when running wide open, and other times, he didn't come down with passes he normally should have.
The passing offense was out of whack, but Jefferson excelled over every other receiver on a specific route, according to PFF.
Wide Receiver Screens – Justin Jefferson
Finally, looking at all iterations of wide receiver screens, we don’t want to just choose the player with the most receptions (Khalil Shakir in this case) because that’s essentially determined by his offensive playcaller.
Justin Jefferson had a frustrating year, just barely maintaining his streak of six 1,000-yard seasons to start his career. While it felt like much of Jefferson’s grievances were a consequence of bad quarterback play and totally beyond his control, one area where he could heavily influence the outcome was on screen passes.
Jefferson caught all 20 screen pass targets, turning them into 7.8-yard gains on average. It’s an underrated part of his game, which he has really developed over the past two seasons.
Truthfully, there was no dominant screen pass wide receiver this year. Ever-elusive veteran Deebo Samuel was also right in the mix for this crown, but his 234 yards after catch were rendered down to just 157 yards from scrimmage due to the depth of Washington’s screen concepts.
Given the dominance Jefferson typically exudes in all other facets of being a wide receiver, I think it’s only fair that we throw him a bone here.
Now, there are two ways to look at this. It's nice to see Jefferson get recognition for what he did with screen passes, but it's the route that he should be running the least. At times, it felt like screen passes were the only way to involve number 18, and that can't continue.
Nobody can argue that Jefferson still isn't at the top of the league, but without a capable quarterback to get the football to him consistently, the receiver's frustration levels will continue to rise.
It's hard to watch what I consider to be the best receiver in the NFL not produce up to his capability. I'm sure Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings organization agree.