Vikings' Justin Jefferson has strong case to be NFL's first WR MVP

A wide receiver has never been named Most Valuable Player in NFL history, but Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings is building a pretty good case to change that this season. 

Jefferson had another monster game for the Vikings in their 27-24 win over the New York Giants on Saturday, hauling in 12 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. That performance resulted in him being showered with "M-V-P" chants from the US Bank Stadium crowd.

Oddschecker currently has Jefferson fifth in MVP odds, behind quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, and Josh Allen. 

A quarterback has won MVP every year since 2012 when another Vikings player, running back Adrian Peterson, won the award. 

No matter your definition of MVP, Jefferson checks pretty much every box you could want.

If you believe that it should simply go to the best player, Jefferson is certainly right there in the discussion this season. He leads the NFL in both receptions (123) and receiving yards (1,756) and has a very real chance to not only set the league's record for receiving yards in a season but to also become the first 2,000-yard receiver in league history. 

With just two games remaining he is just 244 yards off that mark and would need to average 122 yards in those contests. He has topped that number in four of his past five games, including each of the past three. His season average is 117 yards per game. 

He has also accounted for more than 43 percent of the Vikings' total receiving yards on the season. Just for comparison, Miami's Tyreek Hill (the NFL's second-leading receiver in yards) has accounted for only 36 percent of his team's passing offense, while Stefon Diggs (the third-leading receiver in yards) has accounted for only 32 percent of Buffalo's passing offense.

When the Vikings offense needs a big play, Jefferson is almost always there for it. 

This brings us to the subjective argument of value. 

The Vikings are 12-3, have already clinched the NFC North division, and still have an outside shot at the No. 1 seed in the NFC and a bye week. But 11 of those wins have come by just a single possession, while their season point differential is only plus-five. The line between winning and losing for them has been razor-thin and given how much of a role Jefferson has played in so many game-changing moments (like this play in Buffalo) it is not a stretch to think he is the difference between a division title and potentially even missing the playoffs. 

It is a quarterback-dominated award, and while Mahomes, Hurts, Burrow, and Allen have been great, nobody is running away with it this season. Given that Jefferson has a shot to set a new NFL record, reach a milestone (2,000 yards) nobody has ever done, and has played a major role with clutch moments in so many close wins, this might be the year a wide receiver takes it.