Vikings state of the roster: Wide receiver
The 2023 season is inching closer and closer by the day and we here at Vikings Wire are previewing the season from every angle.
We are currently writing player profiles on each Minnesota Viking on the roster with projections for what their 2023 season could look like. How things look projecting forward is where the real intrigue lies.
Leading up to training camp, we will be looking at each position from a more in-depth perspective. Today, we will be looking at the wide receiver position.
The room
Cephus Johnson III
Lucky Jackson
Garett Maag
Performance in 2022
There is no other way to talk about this room without two words: historic and disappointment.
Jefferson was the historic aspect of the room with a tremendous season that netted him the 2022 Offensive Player of the Year. He set multiple team records with 128 catches and 1,809 yards across 17 games. Not only was Jefferson a record setter across multiple stats, he was an electric playmaker across all three levels of the field.
Osborn stepped up at the end of the season, accruing 350 of his 650 yards in the final four games of the season. He has worked himself up from a fifth-round pick being drafted as a kick returner in 2020 to being a starting wide receiver in the NFL.
Thielen saw some real regression this past season. He caught 70 passes for a paltry 716 yards and showed some real aggression with his explosiveness and route running. He shrunk from the number two pass-catching option to the number four option after the trade for T.J. Hockenson. That paired with his near $20 million cap hit led to his release.
After the top three, there wasn’t a lot of production. The two Jalens, Reagor and Nailor, combined for 17 receptions for 283 yards and two touchdowns. Reagor nearly cost the Vikings their comeback against the Indianapolis Colts with his two routes run resulting in interceptions with one going for a touchdown. Nailor has potential, but most of his production came in garbage time when the game wasn’t in doubt.
Expectations in 2023
This group has sky high expectations and it starts with Jefferson. With growth on average of over 200 yards per season, staying at that growth would make him the first wide receiver to ever hit 2,000 yards receiving. With Hockenson in the fold for the entire offseason, it will make a difference in helping out Jefferson.
Not only will Hockenson help, the emergence of Osborn and addition of Jordan Addison as your WR2 and WR3 will also make a big difference. Attacking the intermediate areas of the field is the key to sustained success. Addison is likely to take over as the WR2 at some point this season.
After the top three, it’s a major mixed bag. Jalen Nailor is the clubhouse leader to be WR4 this year and there are a lot of options to be WR5. The most likely to get that spot are either Jalen Reagor or Brandon Powell. The Vikings have some intriguing UDFAs in Malik Knowles and Cephus Johnson III. Outside of that group, keep an eye on Trishton Jackson. He earned a spot on the practice squad this past season and was with Kevin O’Connell in Los Angeles.
What does the future of the room look like?
The future of this room is simple: Jefferson and Addison. Osborn is a talented player that isn’t likely to be in the long-term vision of the Vikings. That is mainly due to the salary cap nature of the National Football League. On the open market next year, he is likely to get around $10 million per year.
The development of this wide receiver room long-term is going to be fascinating. Nailor is the player that wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell pounded the table for and seeing how he develops will be key in determining a lot of factors. Knowles is a player that became a UDFA because he couldn’t test due to a knee injury. Johnson is a great size-adjusted athlete that played quarterback at SE Louisiana and South Alabama. At 6’5″ and 220 lbs, Johnson is a rare frame for the position. If the Vikings can see a Slash-like path for him, there is an intriguing future.
Previous state of the roster articles
