The Vikings’ Surprise Success Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight
Jalen Nailor, fittingly, picked up a lot of praise for his effort against the Raiders.
The third-year receiver turned 4 targets into 3 receptions for 63 yards, good for a 21 yards-per-reception average. Impressive. At this point, though, the strong effort was expected. Nailor has been putting in excellent work at training camp, looking like the frontrunner to be the WR3.
The Vikings’ surprise success at receiver is someone different: Trishton Jackson.
The depth receiver has been in town since before Kevin O’Connell took over, being welcomed to Minnesota back in 2021. Since then, he has mostly been a practice squad player, but his game against Las Vegas points toward some potential. By the time it was all said and done, Jackson had 5 targets go for 4 receptions, 100 yards, and 1 touchdown.
The Vikings’ Surprise Success: Trishton Jackson
Before the preseason took off, I released a complete 53-man roster projection. Trishton Jackson made the cut as the WR5.
At this stage, there are a pair of players who have a 100% chance of making the roster: Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. After those two are Jalen Nailor and Brandon Powell, a pair whose chances soar past 90%. The team will be keeping one or two more players to fill out the receiver room and the contenders consist of Jackson, Trent Sherfield, Jeshaun Jones, and several others.
Of course, the play that most will think of with Jackson is the long touchdown. Go ahead and re-watch the excellent moment:
Make note of a few details. For starters, there’s the basic reality of the rookie QB dropping a 45-yard pass right into his receiver’s hands. But then there’s Jackson’s separation, a detail that makes life quite a bit easier for J.J. McCarthy. And then there’s the poise and ease with which Jackson runs through the ball and into the end zone. Just excellent stuff all around.
Consider the other catches, too. Jackson looks smooth. He was finding success on crossing routes, creating room against Vegas’ overwhelmed defensive backs and dragging his feet for completions in the intermediate area of the field. Those are foundational plays in the O’Connell offense.
Consider the work from #8:
Look at the opening reception in that above video. Jackson begins the play on the right side, stacked up behind Sherfield. As the play develops, Jackson runs across the formation toward the intermediate area of the field as he works toward the left sideline. Jackson snatches the ball out of the air with his hands — don’t miss that: his hands, not his body — with ease and elegance before eventually running out of bounds.
Again, it looks smooth and effortless. The funny thing about sports, though, is that making a sport look effortless requires a lot of effort. Yes, that’s the paradox: the athlete who makes his craft look easy is most often one who has put a ton of time and work into his craft.
Trishton Jackson stands at 6’1″ and weighs 191 pounds. So, he isn’t D.K. Metcalf, but he offers some pretty good size. Being able make a play on the ball is obviously a major part of his job description but being a willing and capable run blocker is another way of endearing himself to the coaching staff.
At 26, Jackson still has some youth even though he has been in the NFL for a little while. He was involved in seven games last season, memorably catching a 2-point conversation in the Atlanta game where Joshua Dobbs took over.
On Monday, Janik Eckardt discussed the receiver on PurplePTSD, arguing that Jackson could be careening toward a “breakthrough.”
Eckardt’s concluding thought: “He has McCarthy’s trust and obviously the trust of his coaches, which is why they have kept him for three years. It’s his fourth attempt to earn a 53-man roster spot, and surely, Saturday’s contest supported his case. Jackson will be a player to watch when general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach O’Connell trim the roster in 15 days.”
Trishton Jackson is carrying a cap charge of just $985,000.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.