The Minnesota Vikings have one hell of a player in wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
Not only does he lead the NFL in receiving yards but he also won the Nickelodeon Valuable Player (NVP) Award for week one. He was outstanding for the Vikings against the Packers going off for nine receptions for 184 yards and two touchdowns, including this beautiful deep crossing route in the second quarter.
With such a star on the outside for the Vikings, there are more and more questions on how to cover the third year player from LSU.
In an article with The 33rd Team, hall of fame defensive back Rod Woodson, who knows a thing or two about coverages, broke down how he would cover the star receiver. His biggest key? Stuffing the number.
What he means by that is by rolling coverages to his side when he’s lined up outside. Think about how teams used to have a safety to Randy Moss’ side whenever he was on thei field for the Vikings. For Woodson, that means a lot of cover-2 man with that one safety responsible for providing support for the man on Jefferson. On the backside they would play cover-3 or man.
When Jefferson is in the slot its a different story. Woodson described it as a cover-4 man with the safety and nickel double covering the star receiver.
While these are good strategies, good luck covering the mega-star.
