Amid the Chaos, One Viking Stood Out
The Minnesota Vikings were defeated once again, for the third time at home in this season alone. Kevin O’Connell’s unit can’t win at home, and they seem to always struggle in the week after wins. That’s not the recipe for building momentum.
Amid the Chaos, One Viking Stood Out
Wideout Justin Jefferson had a strange day, perhaps the worst of his career. But the entire offense stalled, committing eight false start penalties and failing to keep drives alive for the most part.
While his teammates had a game to forget, Jalen Nailor delivered one of the best days of his four-year career. The 2022 draftee secured five passes for 124 yards and one touchdown. In the previous eight games combined, he only posted 14 catches for 178 yards and one score. Let’s not forget who was targeted in the final relevant play in the game against the Detroit Lions. Nailor was trusted to come down with the ball to ice the game, and that’s exactly what he did.
Passer J.J. McCarthy is clearly confident in his speedy weapon and trusts him to make plays. On Sunday, that included a contested touchdown catch, a 62-yard catch-and-run after a beautiful dime early in the game, and a fourth-down conversion, once again after a pretty impressive pass on the run.
Nailor’s season has been fascinating to say the least. He entered training camp as the WR3 behind obvious starters Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. In joint practices, he suffered a hand injury, and his status for Week 1 was in jeopardy. That’s when the Vikings pulled the trigger to acquire Adam Thielen.
Suddenly, there was competition for the man who expected to slide into the WR2 role with Addison’s looming early-season suspension. Nailor returned in time for the season opener and played more snaps than Thielen. Since then, he has defended his spot in the lineup.
Over the season, he has registered 19 catches for 302 yards and two touchdowns. A year ago, he delivered his breakout campaign, emerging as a reliable third option. He caught six touchdowns from Sam Darnold and eclipsed 400 yards for the first time in his career.
Previously, Nailor had struggled with injuries in 2023 and was buried on the depth chart in 2022. There’s a good chance he can build on his 2024 campaign and record even better numbers, especially after Sunday’s performance. While the entire passing game is a chaotic mess, Nailor has stepped up as the only guy with better or comparable output than last year.
And he picked a great time to stack decent seasons, with his pending free agency scheduled for next offseason. In March, the Vikings will have to decide whether they should make an offer to keep their 2022 sixth-rounder in the building.
Some other team could see him perform well and hand him a deal. Every team needs pass-catchers, and someone might want to take a look at the speedster out of Michigan State. He’s certainly not a first option, but he’s without a doubt a solid WR3, and might even have the talent to be more than that. With Jefferson already getting the bag and Addison potentially following in a year or two, there might not be room in the budget for Nailor.
Most Vikings are signed through the next season, but Nailor is among the few who are not. He’ll turn 27 right before the free-agency window opens in March.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.