The Vikings Might Look In-House to Fill Their WR Needs
As of now, the Minnesota Vikings are in a bit of an interesting situation at their wide receiver position.
The Vikings feature a premier superstar at the position in Justin Jefferson and another budding star in Jordan Addison, who caught 70 passes for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns during his rookie season. However, behind these two is where uncertainty emerges.
Minnesota could lose both K.J. Osborn and Brandon Powell in free agency this offseason, thus opening up questions as to who could fill in those WR3/4 spots in 2024. Certainly, the Vikings could look to either free agency or the draft in order to fill those needs, but could they have some solutions already in-house?
The Vikings Might Look In-House to Fill WR Needs
Jalen Nailor
Jalen Nailor has the nickname “Speedy” for a reason. Coming out of high school, not only was he a productive receiver that was given a number of D-1 offers, but he also was a track star who took gold medals at the NIAA 4A State track meet in the 100 meters, 200 meters, 4×100 meters, and 4×200 meters during his senior year.
Nailor ended up at Michigan State where he became a big-play machine over the course of four years with the Spartans. His freshman year saw the receiver play just 194 snaps with the offense, and of his 18 targets, he caught nine of them for 141 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also had eight carries for an additional 125 yards and another touchdown.
2019 was a bit of a step backward for Nailor, resulting in 15 receptions but only 106 and zero touchdowns. However, he really began coming into his own during 2020 and 2021, combining for 64 receptions, 1107 yards, and 10 TDs over those two years.
As a result, the Michigan State product ended up being a sixth-round pick by the Vikings in 2021 NFL Draft and was selected with the 191st overall pick. Nailor’s rookie season saw him spend most of his time contributing to the special teams, appearing in 15 games. However, down the stretch of the season, he saw a much larger role on the offense.
Over the final two games of the regular season, Nailor caught seven passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. In total, the rookie caught nine passes for 179 yards and a touchdown, very similarly to his freshman year at Michigan State.
While 2023 could have been an opportunity to build off of this late-season success, Nailor struggled with injuries throughout the season. He appeared in just six games over the course of the season and played 94 snaps with the offense. As a result, he totaled just three receptions for 29 yards.
With a healthy offseason, though, Nailor certainly could be on the radar to take over a WR3 role in Minnesota during the 2024 season.
Trishton Jackson
Trishton Jackson was one of the most highly touted recruits when he came out of high school in 2016. The receiver was listed as a four-star recruit by 247 Sports and was ranked as the 148th-best player in his entire high school class.
Jackson committed to Michigan State in 2016, but he never truly captured a major role in that offense, totaling just 17 receptions for 232 yards and a single receiving touchdown over two seasons, appearing in just 10 games.
As a result, Jackson transferred to Syracuse in 2018 (ironically the same season that Nailor started his own collegiate career at Michigan State), but he was forced to sit out the majority of the season because of transfer rules. He played just one game against West Virginia and caught three passes for 27 yards and a touchdown.
The receiver then blossomed into a starting role during his final collegiate season of 2019. Jackson played 12 games for the Orange that year, catching 66 passes for 1023 yards and 11 touchdowns, ranking fourth in the ACC for his receiving TD total that season. Despite the success, he went undrafted in 2020 and signed with the Los Angeles Rams, thus beginning his NFL saga with Kevin O’Connell.
Jackson has been in the Vikings organization since 2021 when they added him to their practice squad. He was very close to making the roster in 2022, but he was part of the final wave of cuts and again landed on the practice squad.
The receiver did not make his regular season NFL debut until 2023 though. He appeared in seven games for the Vikings this past season, playing a total of 80 snaps with the offense and catching a pair of passes for three yards.
One of these receptions happened to be a pivotal two-point conversion against the Atlanta Falcons after Osborn left the game with a concussion. It’s been a very small sample size for Jackson at the NFL level, but there certainly have been promising moments when he’s made his way onto the field. Perhaps he can garner a larger role for himself with the Vikings in 2024.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via 247 Sports, Pro Football Reference, and Sports Reference CFB.
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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.