A big game puts Justin Jefferson back at the top of the NFL receiver charts

After Justin Jefferson caught seven passes out of the air for 137 yards on Sunday Night Football against the Indianapolis Colts, the Minnesota Vikings wide receiver is once again at the top of the NFL rankings in receiving yards.

Through eight games, Jefferson is No. 1 in the league with 783 receiving yards. In second place is his former college teammate at LSU, Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, with 717 yards. With 48 catches, Jefferson is tied with Detroit's Amon-Ra St. Brown for 10th most catches in the league. Jets receiver Garrett Wiilson leads the NFL with 60 catches.

What's interesting is that Jefferson and St. Brown have the same number of catches, but Jefferson has 319 more yards. That's a result of leading the NFL with 15 receptions for more than 20 yards. He added five catches for 20 yards against the Colts (20, 22, 24, 21 and 41 yards, respectively).

What is he on pace for? He averages six catches for 97.8 yards and 0.625 touchdowns per game. If he maintains those averages and plays in the final nine games of the regular season, he'll have 54 catches, 880 yards and five or six touchdowns. Add it all up and he would have 102 catches for 1,663 yards and 10-11 touchdowns.

Such a season would be just about the second best of his career. That would fall short of his Offensive Player of the Year season in 2022, when he finished with 128 receptions for 1,809 yards and eight touchdowns, and would surpass his 2021 season in which he caught 108 passes for 1,616 yards and 10 touchdowns.