Justin Jefferson knows plenty about new teammate Jeff Okudah’s physical style of play, having experienced it himself a few times in the past.
Back in the 2020 NFL draft, Okudah was a star Ohio State cornerback prospect who went No. 3 overall to the Lions. 19 picks later, the Vikings took Jefferson, a somewhat polarizing wide receiver prospect from LSU. Their careers have turned out completely differently, with Jefferson on track to be a Hall of Famer and Okudah now on his fourth team in the last four seasons. But despite Okudah’s struggles, he’s made Jefferson feel his presence in their matchups against one another
The two squared off once as rookies before Okudah suffered a season-ending injury. He also missed basically the entire 2021 campaign due to injury. They then battled twice in 2022, the year Jefferson won the NFL’s offensive player of the year award. The Vikings’ superstar was limited to 3 catches for 14 yards in the first game against the Lions that year, which was a great performance from Okudah, even if he had plenty of help. However, Jefferson responded pretty nicely, racking up 11 catches for a career-high 223 yards in the rematch.
Okudah also faced the Vikings as a member of the Falcons in 2023, a game Jefferson missed with the only significant injury of his five-year career.
“He’s more of an aggressive corner,” Jefferson said last week at Vikings minicamp. “He has that speed as well, and he has that ability to really playmake and just be an annoying cornerback. That’s what I like to call those types of corners, annoying cornerbacks, because they know how to be physical, they know how to get you off your route and not be able to have free access.”
To be clear, “annoying” is a compliment in that context, coming from Jefferson. At 6’1″ and 205 pounds, Okudah’s best asset is his physicality, which he uses to bump receivers off their route near the line of scrimmage.
After a year with Atlanta, Okudah spent last season with the Texans and once again missed a big chunk of time due to injury. The Vikings signed the 26-year-old to a one-year, $2.35 million deal this spring. Okudah has had a hard time staying on the field and hasn’t played very well when he’s been healthy, but the Vikings believe he may still have some untapped upside. Although his coverage ability will dictate how much he plays in Minnesota, it helps that he’s proven to be a good run defender and tackler.
Jefferson said the two haven’t discussed their past matchups since they became teammates.
“Nah, receiver to cornerbacks, we won’t never talk about those type of things,” he said, laughing. “We just let it go. Now he’s on our side, so now we good.”
As of now, Okudah and Mekhi Blackmon โ who missed last season with an ACL injury โ appear to be competing for the Vikings’ No. 3 cornerback role behind Byron Murphy Jr. and newcomer Isaiah Rodgers. Okudah and Jefferson haven’t faced off since 2022, but they did so in 7-on-7 action in OTAs and minicamp, and they figure to get plenty of live reps against one another when training camp rolls around in a little over a month. Getting to face off with a physical guy like that should provide some useful preparation for Jefferson.
“It helps a lot, helps tremendously,” he said. “And that’s something I kind of thought about last week, thinking about the different times that I went up against him while he was in Detroit. Just being able to kind of be in the mix with him every single practice and get that hands-on feeling of him not wanting me to get free access, it’s frustrating and it’s difficult at times, but it definitely gets me ready for this upcoming season.”
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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ
Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nationโs Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustratedโs newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.
Jefferson said the two haven’t discussed their past matchups since they became teammates.
“Nah, receiver to cornerbacks, we won’t never talk about those type of things,” he said, laughing. “We just let it go. Now he’s on our side, so now we good.”
As of now, Okudah and Mekhi Blackmon โ who missed last season with an ACL injury โ appear to be competing for the Vikings’ No. 3 cornerback role behind Byron Murphy Jr. and newcomer Isaiah Rodgers. Okudah and Jefferson haven’t faced off since 2022, but they did so in 7-on-7 action in OTAs and minicamp, and they figure to get plenty of live reps against one another when training camp rolls around in a little over a month. Getting to face off with a physical guy like that should provide some useful preparation for Jefferson
It helps a lot, helps tremendously,” he said. “And that’s something I kind of thought about last week, thinking about the different times that I went up against him while he was in Detroit. Just being able to kind of be in the mix with him every single practice and get that hands-on feeling of him not wanting me to get free access, it’s frustrating and it’s difficult at times, but it definitely gets me ready for this upcoming season.
