In preseason fantasy drafts, there were serious questions about the Minnesota Vikings’ passing game. Nobody doubted the talent of Justin Jefferson, arguably the best wide receiver in football. Jordan Addison has come out of the gate hot and established himself. The question was the quarterback and whether these two receivers could be productive with J.J. McCarthy after Sam Darnold’s departure?
So far, the answer is a resounding no. McCarthy is nowhere near the quarterback Darnold was, bringing up some difficult questions. For fantasy managers with Jefferson and Addison in the lineups, what should be done?
Analysis
Let’s start with the quarterbacks’ efficiency. In 17 games season, Darnold completed 66.2% of his passes for 43 touchdowns against 12 interceptions, netting 7.9 yards per passing attempt. McCarthy has six games under his belt this season; across those starts, he’s completing 54.1% of his passes for six touchdowns to 10 interceptions and netting 5.8 yards per attempt. It’s a massive drop-off that has affected the entire offense.
Through five seasons in his NFL career, Justin Jefferson has put up no less than 17.1 PPR points per game in a full season. This year, he’s dipped to 13.8 PPR points per game. Fantasy managers expected a sure-fire WR1, if not the dominant overall WR1 we’ve seen before from Jefferson. Instead, he’s looking more like a WR2 with a low floor. That’s a quarterback issue. Before this year, Jefferson’s career-low yards per target was 9.7. This year, it’s down to 8.0.
Things are worse across the board for Addison as well. Last year, the USC product put up 14.2 PPR points per game but has now dipped to 11.0. The yards per target are down to 7.8 from 8.8. He won’t come close to his touchdown outputs we’ve come to expect.
Simply put, McCarthy has hamstrung these receivers in fantasy. “Nine,” as he calls himself, is the fake demon many thought him to be. Both of these receivers have to be knocked down a rung. Treat Jefferson as a WR2 down the stretch and Addison as more of a flex option in good matchups. Both have rock-bottom floors. It’s a tough scene for these Vikings wide receivers. Let’s survive the year and hope that next season can bring better things.
