Vikings Rumors: Justin Jefferson Going Crazy, An “Athletic Alien,” and The Hitman’s Rules
As we enter the portion of the year when Vikings rumors start heating up, we’ll be highlighting some of the purple rumblings.
The “Vikings Rumor Wrangle” is a series that keeps readers informed on what’s being whispered about in Vikings Land. In this iteration, we discuss Justin Jefferson going a bit crazy, the Vikings meeting with an “athletic alien,” and Harrison Smith’s rules for Kevin O’Connell.
Vikings Rumors: 04.09.2025
Rumor #1 — A Recent Clip Involves Justin Jefferson Going “Crazy” … Over Madden
Admittedly, discussing the clip feels a bit silly. Stick with me, though; there’s a point that’s worth making (I hope).
Mr. Jefferson is pictured in the bottom corner of a video that sees the NFL superstar playing as the Vikings in Madden, the video game. The WR1 shuffles through plays pre-snap before settling on some deep corner routes. J.J. McCarthy fakes a hand off to Aaron Jones, using his athleticism to move to the right before launching a deep bomb to Jalen “Speedy” Nailor.
The end result? Well, a long Nailor touchdown, of course. Oh, and some enthusiastic celebrating from Jefferson, who shouts, “Put J.J. [McCarthy] in, go crazy!”
The simplest question: does it matter at all? In the most straightforward sense, no. Jefferson is having fun playing a video game and that’s that. The only thing to consider is simply that Minnesota’s offense is going to look for that video game play to soon become a reality.
Recently, Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah have discussed their confidence in McCarthy and their shared desire to see him become the QB1. Being able to thrive in that role will mean doing what we see in that video game football clip: suck up defenders with a fake handoff to the team’s top runner before then using his athleticism to escape the pocket. Then, drop a dime deep downfield to one of Minnesota’s excellent pass catchers.
Being able to do that with some consistency will mean that Mr. McCarthy will soon prompt Vikings fans to go crazy in the stands.
Rumor #2 — The Vikings Recently Met with an “Athletic Alien“
What can I say? I’m a sucker for an alliteration.
According to Tom Pelissero, the Vikings will be visiting with corner Shavon Revel Jr. Consider the word: “Former East Carolina CB Shavon Revel — a projected first-round pick who is recovering from ACL reconstruction — will visit the #Bills, #Colts and #Vikings this week. He’ll also do the combine medical recheck while in Indianapolis.”
PFF has good things to say about the young corner: “Revel is the ideal Day 2 athletic alien to draft and develop, despite inconsistent anticipation and technique in his current form. His physical gifts (including height and length) point to press-man coverage being his home in the NFL, but it will be quite the adjustment for him to go from one year of staring experience in the AAC to the NFL — especially off a torn ACL.”
For a fuller assessment of what the corner could offer the Vikings, look to the analysis from Dustin Baker and Janik Eckardt.
Rumor #3 — The Hitman Had Some Texting Rules for Kevin O’Connell
Kevin O’Connell respects Harrison Smith. In fact, there’s so much respect that the head coach restrained himself when it comes to what the two could discuss when texting.
Smith, affectionately known as The Hitman, considered retirement before agreeing to come back on a single-season, $10,250,000 deal. Being able to work through the process of whether or not he had another season of NFL football in him meant allowing him to fully recharge without needing to face any pesky pressure or pestering from the team’s top coach.
At the Annual League Meeting, O’Connell offered some clarity about how the communication worked since the season ended: “I give [Harrison Smith] his space. And if I call or text him, we are not to talk about playing football until he’s ready. So there may have been a couple of golf texts here and there, a couple of calls to check in on just all things happening in the world. And then he called me one morning and said, ‘Hey, boss man, I think I got one more in me.’ And I was like, ‘Am I allowed to talk about football yet?’ And I took that as a yes.”
One more fascinating tidbit to emerge from the coach’s reflections on Mr. Smith: the veteran safety and the team’s top coach have a coffee together every Friday.
Editor’s Note: Information from 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 social media (Bluesky & Twitter). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.