Jordan Addison Is Battling for Another Role on the Vikings Roster in 2023
Josh Frey
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When the Minnesota Vikings drafted Jordan Addison with the 23rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the assumption was that he would be the direct replacement for Adam Thielen and compete with K.J. Osborn for the WR2 role.
While the receiver is in the midst of that WR2 battle, it appears that Addison is also battling for another role on the Vikings roster in 2023: punt returner.
During Thursday’s practice, Judd Zulgad of SKOR North posted a tweet that Addison was one of three players returning punts during the day. The other two were fellow wide receivers Jalen Reagor and Thayer Thomas.
“Jalen Reagor, Thayer Thomas and Jordan Addison getting in pre-practice work catching punts from the JUGS machine,” Zulgad wrote.
Addison made himself known with the Pittsburgh Panthers and USC Trojans during his collegiate career as a route-runner for the offense, but an underrated skillset of his, particularly at Pitt, was his punt returning ability.
During his outstanding 2021 season where he caught 100 passes for 1593 yards and 17 TDs, Addison also recorded 12 punt returns and totaled 185 yards, an average of 15.4 yards per return.
Because of his twitchy movements and effortless change of direction, it makes sense that the receiver would be a strong candidate as a punt returner. Additionally, this is certainly an area where Minnesota needs to get better during the 2023 season.
In 2022, Minnesota made their trade to acquire Reagor from the Philadelphia Eagles largely in an attempt to fix this problem. However, it didn’t quite work out as hoped, with Reagor returning 26 punts for just 164 yards, an average of 6.4 yards per return.
Overall, the Vikings finished the 2022 season ranked among the bottom-five in the league in terms of yards per punt return with Reagor as their main return man. If Minnesota wants to get better, it makes sense to try Addison out at the spot.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.