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Between the prospects of playing with Justin Jefferson and the NFLPA’s player report cards giving the Minnesota Vikings the top grade in the league, NFL draft prospect Jordan Addison is eager to land in Minnesota.
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson reported on April 25 that the USC wide receiver and 2021 Biletnikoff winner “would love” to be a Viking after he made a top-30 visit to TCO Performance Center in Eagan earlier this month.
“He thoroughly enjoyed his visit,” Wolfson said of Addison on the SKOR North podcast. “There’s a lot of appeal of being that No. 2 wide receiver next to Justin Jefferson. To playing in a [Kevin O’Connell] offense. Trust me, a lot of draft prospects are aware of those NFLPA ratings. Being a Viking is a really, really good thing. The buzz is Jordan Addison would love to be a Viking.”
Addison is considered an NFL-ready prospect due to his fully developed route tree and production in college. For those reasons, Pro Football Focus (PFF) lead draft analyst Mike Renner penned Addison as a “dream” running mate for Jefferson.
Jordan Addison a ‘Dream Scenario for Vikings
In a February 13 mock draft, Renner projected the Vikings to select Addison with the 23rd overall pick in the upcoming draft, calling him a “dream scenario” for Minnesota.
“Addison is a dream scenario for the Vikings. He’s not just a separator, but also one who will make you pay down the football field if you tilt your safeties toward Justin Jefferson. He won the Biletnikoff Award, given to college football’s top receiver, in 2021 and tallied 25 touchdowns over the past two seasons,” Renner wrote.
Addison is undersized but has proven he can separate from the slot and on the outside. Instead of going for another alpha wide receiver who may not pan out in creating separation at the next level, Addison is a safe play projecting to have the floor of Emmanuel Sanders and a ceiling, according to The 33rd Team, like Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison.
The football thinktank of former executives, scouts and players had this to say about Addison:
Addison has good height but has a slender frame without much build on it. He is a good athlete with quickness and speed to his game that not many others possess in this class. His quickness allows him to get in and out of his routes and release off the line. Addison can run away from defenders with the ball in his hands as well as get over the top of them on vertical routes.
He is a natural hands catcher, not allowing the ball to get in on his body. He does lack ideal strength and struggles to get off press coverage and fight for 50/50 balls. He can play both inside and outside with good quickness to separate and release and very good speed to run by defenders on the outside. For Jordan Addison, it is his hands, speed, and quickness, along with his route-running ability that is going to make teams fall in love.
Vikings Have a Wild Array of Choices in Draft
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s “competitive rebuild” has the Vikings with one foot in the past and one foot in the future when it comes to roster construction.
Effectively sending Kirk Cousins into the final year of his contract has forced the new regime’s hand to find a replacement in the draft this season so they can develop behind Cousins for a season.
However, so long as Cousins is rostered, the Vikings are in win-now mode.
Finding the next quarterback would be easier had Minnesota tanked last season, but a 13-3 record and run to the playoffs that involved trading a second-round pick to the Detroit Lions for T.J. Hockenson has left the Vikings with few valuable picks inside the top 100 of the draft.
Making a massive trade up inside the top five picks is unlikely considering the number of future picks that would leave a Vikings roster lacking depth disparate. However, if a top quarterback prospect fell into the mid- to late-teens, there’s a considerable chance the Vikings make a move and get their quarterback of the future.
But if that plan doesn’t work out, the most likely scenario is Minnesota trading back to gather more picks for the first two days of the draft as the new regime hopes to reinforce the roster with young talent after the 2022 draftees largely had their rookie years washed due to injury.
There’s a handful of first-round prospects that if they fell in the draft the Vikings would consider either trading up or sticking with at No. 23 overall.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Ohio State wide receiver), Deonte Banks (Maryland cornerback), Calijah Kancey (Pitt defensive tackle) or quarterbacks Anthony Richardson (Florida), Hendon Hooker (Tennessee) and Will Levis (Kentucky) are all likely in play if they’re still on the board five to eight picks from No. 23 overall.
But the one certainty with this time of year? It will all come to light on draft night (that’s tomorrow).
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