He’s now one of the NFL’s most electrifying players, but Justin Jefferson had a somewhat underwhelming start to his football career. Ranked as the 308th best wide receiver in the country in high school, Jefferson went to LSU but didn’t record a catch in his first college season. That all changed by year two. In 2019, the Tigers won the CFP National Championship on the strength of the talents of historically great college QB Joe Burrow and Jefferson, by then his top target.
The Minnesota Vikings received the 22nd pick in the 2020 NFL Draft after a blockbuster trade with the Buffalo Bills that sent Stefon Diggs to Buffalo. And with that, pick the Vikings selected Jefferson. The rest, as they say, is history in the making.
In his three seasons in the National Football League Jefferson’s numbers have been nothing short of mind-blowing.
Garnering three Pro Bowl nods in three seasons, the never-ending, record-setting Jefferson continues to improve each season. Culminating (so far) with a 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award as he led the league with 128 receptions and over 1,800 yards receiving.
With over 300 receptions, nearly 5,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in those three seasons in the league, it’s safe to say Jefferson is on well on his way to receiving a bust in Canton in about a decade and a half.
Collectors have certainly noticed and in our latest Better Than a Box segment, we select four Jefferson cards that can be had for the same price as a Hobby box of the new 2022 Panini Select Football.
Select is one of the most popular products released during (or after) the NFL season. There’s no debating its popularity, with a multitude of color parallels, some nice memorabilia cards and once in a great while, big autograph hits. Big boxes do exist for but for every highlight box we see on YouTube Instagram, there seem to be a lot more that don’t deliver much bang for your 750 bucks.
Select boxes offer two autographs and one memorabilia card coming within the five cards per pack, twelve pack box.
The Rookie Card
The rookie card of choice for our collection actually comes from Select. With most recent selling prices between $100 and $125, the 2020 Silver Prizm in a gem mint PSA 10 grade is a great opening card for the collection and gives us a lot of room to work moving forward. If you like Select cards, you will still get your fix with this choice.
The Autographed Card
Our autograph card in the Jefferson Ultimate Collection is 2020 Panini Limited RPA numbered out of 175. The super thick, high-end looking Limited RPA’s are some of the nicest and most visually appealing in the entire hobby. Prone to chipping, this horizontally designed Jefferson features a multicolor patch with an on card autograph and Limited’s high end feeling card design. For right around $250 or sometimes less, this will take up a bigger chunk of our budget, but it’s well worth it. Just look at that beauty.
The Memorabilia Card
Speaking of high end, the jersey card in our legendary lot comes from 2020 Immaculate Football. Nearly every inch of this card is a patch, and this one also features a high end, horizontal Immaculate marbled design with the look and feel of something, well, immaculate. Getting a rookie year patch out of such a high end product of this superstar for $50-$75 is a touchdown every single Sunday.
The Serial Numbered Card
Our collection wraps up with a 2020 Donruss Press Proof gold die cut parallel numbered to a mere 25 copies. This ultra desirable, super low numbered parallel of Jefferson features the superstar and his Vikings uniform (whether its airbrushed or not is a different question) and the iconic and all important Rated Rookie logo. For right around 200 bucks, this wraps up our collection in style.
But wait, there’s more. We are about 200 bucks under our budget, so we can purchase a lot of 25, yes 25, 2020 Prizm Justin Jefferson RCs. Are you kidding me?
Yes, Select boxes offer two autographs but are you going to pull something better than a Justin Jefferson RPA? The box also boasts a memorabilia card. Are you going to pull something better than an Immaculate rookie year Justin Jefferson memorabilia card? The box might have a few serial number cards, are you going to find one in your box better than a rookie parallel of The Sultan of Slot numbered to 25 copies? If so, you got lucky. Are you going to find the equivalent to all of these singles in your hobby box? Not unless you have a remarkable stroke of luck.
We gave you straight rookie year heat, but, as always, the money and the choice is yours.
Check out sports card boxes of all kinds in Sports Zone’s online store here.
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