Vikings Employ the 2nd Most Underrated WR in the NFL
In the 2023 offseason, the Minnesota Vikings showed the door to a trio of franchise cornerstones. Dalvin Cook, Eric Kendricks, and Adam Thielen all departed after years of excellence. The club had internal replacements for the runner and the linebacker, but a new wideout had to be paired with Justin Jefferson.
Vikings Employ the 2nd Most Underrated WR in the NFL
Thielen’s successor arrived in the 2023 draft when Kwesi Adofo-Mensah declined the trade-down option and picked the fourth straight receiver in the first round: Jordan Addison. Through two seasons, it’s not hard to count that pick as a hit, although the off-field issues are at least an asterisk.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay named the league’s most underrated wideouts, and the young Vikings came in second. His explanation: “Despite playing second fiddle to one of the NFL’s best receivers and working with five different quarterbacks across his first two seasons, Jordan Addison has found a way to dominate for the Minnesota Vikings.”
Sure, playing next to Jefferson is a two-edged sword. The defense will focus on the receiver with a Hall of Fame trajectory, making it easier to get open. However, Jefferson will always lead the team in targets, while the other guys have to take what’s left.
With that being said, Addison has been fairly impressive in his role as Minnesota’s WR2.
More from Kay, “Addison started living up to his first-round billing immediately after entering the league, posting a sensational rookie stat line of 70 catches for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns. The wideout helped make up for the extended absence of Justin Jefferson—who missed seven games in 2023—and didn’t miss a beat when star quarterback Kirk Cousins was also lost for the year, finding success with a revolving door of signal-callers that included Nick Mullens, Joshua Dobbs and Jaren Hall.”
Addison immediately beat out K.J. Osborn for the job and quickly looked the part, rather than needing any adjustment time, despite his young age of 21 years. He even took on a larger role for a while when Jefferson was forced to sit out nearly half the season with a hamstring injury, and the quarterback downgrade from Kirk Cousins to the backup trio didn’t hurt him as badly as it could have.
“While Addison didn’t build on those strong Year 1 metrics, he still slashed a highly respectable 63/875/9 in 2024 despite missing two games with injury and contending with a fully healthy Jefferson for targets,” Kay added.
In his sophomore season, Addison suffered an ankle injury in training camp and another one in Week 1, costing him three quarters of that game as well as the following two contests. That’s why his numbers were still impressive despite the decline.
“There’s little Addison can’t do,” Kay noted, “although his production is certainly tempered by the presence of elite skill position teammates. Whether he’s burning corners deep in single coverage or slipping into the defense’s soft spot for easy touchdowns, the talented wideout has managed to produce at an extremely efficient rate while still allowing Jefferson and tight end T.J. Hockenson to get their star-caliber numbers.”
Indeed, Addison is the full package. He’s a walking highlight play as one of the best deep targets in the sport, and he has the speed and the ball skills to be a nightmare for any defender. Playing through contact was a concern for him coming in due to his smaller stature, but he plays way bigger than he is.
“Now set to work with yet another new starter in second-year passer J.J. McCarthy, Addison projects to continue setting the standard for No. 2 WRs in 2025,” Kay concluded.
Addison has caught passes from different passers in college, and he has already seen balls come his way from five separate signal-callers in the NFL. J.J. McCarthy has the talent to feed him, too.
The 23-year-old pass-catcher surely targets his first 1,000-yard season. A suspension could be on the docket, which would hurt those odds. Still, he has been every bit of what the Vikings hoped for when they pulled the trigger 26 months ago.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.
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