Justin Jefferson draft: How four WRs including Jerry Jeudy, CeeDee Lamb, Henry Ruggs went before Vikings star

Everyone knows that the NFL Draft is often a crapshoot. Case and point, just look at the 2020 NFL Draft.

Going into the event, teams, fans and analysts alike knew there were three receivers on the board that NFL teams with first-round picks coveted. They were Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb and Alabama products Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs.

But two and a half years later, it is Justin Jefferson who has emerged as the best receiver to come out of the 2020 class.

Jefferson was a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, but he was just the fifth receiver selected. Since then, he has become one of the NFL’s top receiving weapons.

Jefferson is arguably one of the NFL’s best receivers and racked up 196 catches, 3,016 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns during his first two NFL seasons. So, how did he last until the 22nd pick in the 2020 NFL Draft? Here’s a breakdown of the first five receivers selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft and how they have fared to date.

MORE: Why Justin Jefferson loves Vikings’ new-look offense under Kevin O’Connell

Justin Jefferson scouting report

Jefferson was a fast riser during the 2019 college football season and the lead-up to the 2020 NFL Draft.

Jefferson racked up 111 catches for 1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns during his final collegiate season as a part of the historically great LSU offense. He had excellent chemistry with Joe Burrow and helped lead the Tigers to a national championship.

At 6-1, 195 pounds, Jefferson was considered to have solid size, but his best skill was his ability to make plays in space. He showed explosive speed and change-of-direction ability at LSU; the only question was how he would adapt going from a spread offense to more of a pro-style attack.

Jefferson’s performance put him on the map, and his intriguing skill allowed him to rise up draft boards. Still, he was largely ranked behind the consensus top-three receivers in the draft class: CeeDee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs.

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein still believed that Jefferson would be a first-round pick. He was high on the LSU product and compared him to former Packers star Greg Jennings.

A quarterback’s best friend, with the contested-catch focus and extreme ball skills to boost completion percentages. Jefferson failed to stand out as an outside target but saw his stock soar with a monster season from the slot. He has decent speed and separation talent, but he needs to improve as a route-runner, as he’s less likely to see the same freedom in space that LSU’s offense helped create for him. He’s slippery in space and able to stab and save throws with quick hands and fluid body adjustments. Teams looking for an inside/outside possession receiver with the size and savvy to make chain-moving catches could push Jefferson up the board.

Jefferson has exceeded that high-end billing. He has become a strong route-runner while retaining his explosiveness in space. And when looking back at where he was drafted, it looks like the Vikings got a massive steal when they selected him in 2022.

MORE: Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase debate who is the NFL’s best receiver

2020 NFL Draft

Jefferson was selected No. 22 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. He was the fifth receiver that came off the board in total.

Receivers were generally pushed down the board in the 2020 NFL Draft, as the class had three top-six quarterbacks and four top-15 picks at offensive tackle. The first one was selected No. 12 overall.

Here’s a breakdown of the four receivers taken ahead of Jefferson and why each team passed on the LSU receiver.

No. 12, WR Henry Ruggs III, Raiders. Las Vegas made a surprising selection by making Ruggs the top receiver selected during the 2020 NFL Draft. The Alabama product was largely noted for his speed — he clocked a 4.26-second 40-yard dash before the draft — and then-GM Mike Mayock noted that when addressing the Ruggs selection after the draft.

“All three wide receivers (likely Ruggs, Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb) we felt were diverse and would bring different things to the Raiders and I feel like Coach Gruden and that offensive staff is so good they could have gotten the most out of all three of them,” Mayock said, per the Raiders’ official website.

However, the distinguishing factor [with Ruggs] really was his speed, his explosion and his work ethic.

Unfortunately, things didn’t work out with Ruggs. He played 20 games with the Raiders and logged 50 catches for 921 yards and four touchdowns over two seasons, but he was arrested after he was involved in a DUI car crash that left a woman dead. The Raiders released him after that incident and he is facing 3 to 26 years in prison if found guilty of DUI and reckless driving causing death.

No. 15, WR Jerry Jeudy, Broncos. Denver was ecstatic about Jeudy being available with their top selection. The Broncos were looking for a No. 1 receiver heading into the draft and found themselves able to land their top player with the 15th pick.

John Elway said that Jeudy was the No. 1 player on the Broncos’ draft board with Lamb checking in at No. 2. He explained why the team was so high on Jeudy after the draft, per the team’s official website.

“What we liked about Jerry was … his route-running ability, his speed, being able to plant his foot and get out of a break, the experience that he has and obviously playing in the SEC and plus the production that he’s had,” Elways said. “We met with him in Indianapolis [at the 2020 NFL Combine] and really liked him and liked his mentality and what he thought about the game of football and how he wants to attack the game of football and it’s important to him.

“It was very close, but we were glad that we had an opportunity to pick — and Jerry was our guy from the get-go.”

Jeudy played 26 games in his first two seasons with the Broncos and racked up 90 catches for 1,323 yards and three touchdowns. That production came largely with Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback. He is hoping to enjoy a breakout year with Russell Wilson at quarterback in 2022.

MORE: Justin Jefferson takes aim at first 2,000-yard WR season in NFL history

No. 17, WR CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys. The Cowboys weren’t among the teams expected to select a receiver. They already had Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup was coming off a 1,107-yard season.

Still, Jerry Jones explained that there was “no decision” to be made about selecting Lamb. He was the sixth-ranked player on Dallas’ draft board, so his availability made the choice easy.

“The right thing to do is always pick the best football player,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said, per USA Today. “That’s what we did today.”

Dallas’ investment has paid off. Lamb is now the team’s No. 1 receiver after the Amari Cooper trade and has averaged 81 catches, 1,082 yards and six touchdowns per 17 games played.

No. 21, WR Jalen Reagor, Eagles. Ruggs being the first receiver selected in the 2020 NFL Draft was surprising, but Reagor going ahead of Justin Jefferson was simply shocking.

Reagor was known as a speedster who posted modest production at TCU but was projected as a great deep threat at the NFL level. Howie Roseman and the Eagles pursued Reagor because of his DeSean Jackson-type potential; they also believed his skill set and speed better complimented the skill set of the receiving weapons on the Philadelphia roster at that time.

That turned out to be a regrettable move. Jefferson has developed into one of the best receivers in the NFL while Reagor racked up just 65 catches, 695 yards and three touchdowns during his two seasons with the Eagles.

Philadelphia traded Reagor to the Vikings ahead of the 2022 NFL season. The move ironically will pair Reagor with Jefferson in Minnesota’s receiving corps as he looks to carve out a role for himself at the NFL level.

And Roseman acknowledged after trading Reagor that selecting him ahead of Jefferson was one of the biggest mistakes of his time in Philadelphia. 

It’s obvious, I’m not going to sit here and lie, we’d love to have that moment back. I believe that all of these moments, they lead to where you’re getting. Like I feel like when we won a World Championship there were some mistakes made in that process, but they lead us to get to where we want to be. I can’t go back in time and change it, all I can do is to try and learn from it and get better.

Here’s how the entire first round of 2020 broke down, with the six first-round receivers selected in bold: