Denver Broncos: Justin Jefferson’s talent is hard to pass up

It is obvious the Denver Broncos greatest weakness is still on the offensive side of the ball to find a partner in crime next to Courtland Sutton.

The LSU Tigers took the college football world by storm in 2019. With quarterback Joe Burrow as the architect of one of the greatest seasons a player has had in a long time, just about every boat around him was raised. One of Burrow’s favorite targets was wide receiver Justin Jefferson, a smooth playmaker destined to be a dynamic player at the next level.

The season started and ended with the greatness of Burrow, but Jefferson was tremendous in his own right during the 2019 season, solidifying himself as a first-round option for the Denver Broncos.

Jefferson is one of multiple options for the Denver Broncos in round one if they miss out on the top three wide receivers with 15th selection. The LSU Tiger is a well-rounded prospect that seems like he has zero holes in his game. Jefferson is more than capable of playing on the outside but seems at his best in the slot.

One of his calling cards is making contested catches. Jefferson has a 92.3 percent contested catch rate. Almost all of Jefferson’s yardage in 2019 came from the slot as well. However, don’t let that fool you. Jefferson has enough speed to win on the outside in the NFL. He runs routes like a pro and can definitely be effective outside of the slot. When Jefferson was with LSU in 2018 he had 553 snaps working on the boundary while 870 snaps in the slot during the 2019 season.

Jefferson is methodical and crisp out of his breaks, comparing favorably to a prominent NFL wideout. Based on his ability to make tough catches and red zone presence, Jefferson compares somewhat to Green Bay Packers star Davante Adams.

Adams is one of the best possession receivers in the NFL and uses his frame to beat corners in the red zone. Based on the reliability of a player in the red zone like Jefferson in college it can be easy for that to transfer to the next level.

Continuing with reliability, what makes a quarterback’s best friend is a third-down chain mover. Jefferson is one of the best receivers at finding soft spots in zones. From 0-9 yards Jefferson has 49 receptions on 53 targets. Also, 31 receptions on 40 targets from 10-19 yards. Both of these yardages are good spacing to help convert on third down. I’m not a math wizard, but the percentage of the receptions in that range is pretty impressive.

Obviously, the late emergence of DaeSean Hamilton in 2019 cannot be ignored, but helping make a football team better cannot be ignored either. Jefferson and Hamilton together would give the Denver Broncos’ young quarterback two legitimate options to move the chains.

Another mark on Jefferson is he has a lot of missed tackles forced. Jefferson had 25 missed tackles forced in 2019. There are really no elements to Jefferson’s game that are massive red flags. This is why Jefferson is a sure-fire first-rounder. The question then becomes where does Denver turn if the top four are gone?

If it was me Justin Jefferson would be really high on that list.