Souhan: When you rank the top young athletes in Minnesota sports, there’s a new leader

In June, when Royce Lewis looked like he was incapable of hitting anything less than a grand slam with the game on the line, I ranked the four best major-sport young athletes in Minnesota.

 

My picks: The Wolves’ Anthony Edwards a half-step ahead of the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, followed by Lewis, then the Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov.

 

Edwards had led the Timberwolves to their greatest victory in franchise history — Game 7 over the defending champion Nuggets in Denver; Jefferson could become one of the greatest players in NFL history; Lewis was making the grand slam look like an everyday occurrence; and Kaprizov, for all of his skill, was muddling through a mediocre Wild season.

It’s time to not only reexamine this ranking, but to expand its parameters.

 

I picked those four athletes because they were all 26 or younger and playing like stars.

 

That left the Lynx’s Napheesa Collier off the list. After the year she had — winning defensive player of the year, finishing second in the MVP race, bringing a team with average talent to within a point of the WNBA championship and winning a gold medal — I regret not including her in June.

 

She’s 28. So the new parameter is local superstars who are 28 or younger.

 

Here’s my ranking of these five, including a surprise entrant:

Collier: A’ja Wilson beat her out for league MVP. Breanna Stewart beat her out, with help from the officials, in the WNBA Finals. In reality, Collier was more valuable to the Lynx this season than Wilson was to the Aces, and Collier outplayed Stewart this season when you include defense, and you should always, in basketball, include defense. Collier might be the best player in the world, and she almost led a team picked to finish in the middle of the pack to a title. She’s the new No. 1.

Edwards: The next step he’s trying to take — becoming the best player on a championship team, and perhaps the best player in the NBA — is a doozy. That he’s being asked to do so at the age of 23 makes him unique.

Jefferson: He’s off to a historically great start in terms of NFL receiving production. He’s also more dependent on teammates than are basketball players, who can simply take the ball and make something happen anytime they so choose. In 2024, Jefferson is producing his lowest marks for receptions and yards per game since he was a rookie, as the Vikings emphasize the run and Sam Darnold tries to learn what Kirk Cousins eventually did — that throwing the ball in Jefferson’s vicinity, even when he’s not open, is a good idea. Jefferson has done nothing to diminish his status .