Minnesota Vikings: One thing to watch for in regular season finale

There’s one thing Minnesota Vikings fans can hope for in their Week 17 matchup.

Minnesota Vikings rookie wide receiver Justin Jefferson has already had a season to remember in his inaugural campaign in purple and gold.

The 2020 first-round draft pick has not only been one of the top rookies in the entire NFL for most of the season, but he has also been one of the top wide receivers period in the league with just one game left to play.

The rookie wideout continues to prove he is one of the steals of the past NFL Draft, as he should be a strong candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year at the end of the year and was also recently named to a Pro Bowl along with Vikings running back Dalvin Cook in just his first season as a professional.

As a top receiver on the offensive side of the ball in Minnesota, Jefferson is also on pace to break multiple rookie records before the year comes to a close, including a record set by a Hall of Fame wide receiver that dawned purple and gold for most of his NFL career.

With the Vikings now officially eliminated from playoff contention following a loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 16 on Christmas Day, there isn’t a ton riding on the regular-season finale in Week 17 when Minnesota hits the road to round out the regular-season schedule against the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon in Detroit.

But there is one major milestone, specifically involving Jefferson, that makes this game worth watching and something to keep an eye on throughout the course of the NFC North contest in the regular-season finale.

Justin Jefferson can break a rookie Minnesota Vikings and NFL record in Week 17.

In the Week 17 game, Jefferson has the chance to break Vikings legend Randy Moss‘ rookie receiving yardage record, a mark Moss set during his rookie campaign in 1998. Earlier this year, Jefferson already broke Moss’ rookie team record for receptions in a season, but he now has his sights set on the yardage record as well.

During the 1998 season, Moss finished that year with 69 receptions and 17 touchdowns for 1,313 yards in 16 games. He went on to earn Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro honors, along with being named AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.

In the 2020 season, Jefferson has tallied 79 receptions for seven touchdowns in 15 games and comes into Week 17 with a total of 1,267 receiving yards. That mark is just 46 yards short of tying Moss’ rookie yardage record.

Jefferson has continued to put together a strong season to this point, which makes the 46 yards or even more than that a definite possibility in the regular-season finale in Detroit on Sunday afternoon.

When it comes to where the rookie wideout ranks in the NFL at the receiver position, he ranks fourth in the league behind only DeAndre Hopkins, Travis Kelce and Stefon Diggs in yards receiving to this point in the year. When it comes to other rookie recievers, Jefferson is atop the total yardage list by a wide margin, with Dallas Cowboys rookie CeeDee Lamb second on the rookie list with 827 receiving yards going into Week 16.

Jefferson has been impressive, to say the least, during his rookie season in Minnesota in 2020. And in what some would view a game that has nothing riding on it in Week 17 between the Vikings and Lions — both of which who have no hopes at a spot in the NFC Playoffs — there is at least one milestone to keep an eye on when it comes to Jefferson inking his name atop another exclusive list.