Let’s be clear about something right off the bat: Jordan Addison is not Justin Jefferson. And K.J. Osborn is not Bisi Johnson.
Those were the main characters in the Minnesota Vikings’ 2020 production of Who’s the WR2? Yet it’s difficult not to get the sense that, once again, a prominent understudy receiver is about to find himself under a brighter spotlight.
Historically, it hasn’t taken long for the franchise’s most talented receivers to make their presence felt quickly. Randy Moss barged into Week 1 of 1998, immediately displacing perennial 1,000-yard receiver Jake Reed, and proceeded to tear the league apart. Percy Harvin scored touchdowns in his first three games. Stefon Diggs averaged over 100 yards per game in his first four starts. And Jefferson emerged with 175 yards in his first start and Griddy’d straight past the aforementioned Johnson and Adam Thielen to be the team’s most dangerous receiver.
In short, these first impressions have usually aged well. That’s why Addison’s early returns have purple faithful buzzing.
Given 36 and 40 snaps, respectively, in the Vikings’ first two games, Addison has shown off his downfield ability twice with two of Minnesota’s three longest plays from scrimmage this season. His 39-yard touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers displayed his underrated straightline speed that pundits doubted after a good-not-great Combine. His 62-yarder in Philadelphia showed the same, but with a little sprinkle of elusiveness at the end of the play.
Not bad for a WR3 workload.
Addison ranks 29th out of 88 receivers in yards per route run through two weeks. Aside from out-of-nowhere rookie Puka Nacua — who may be the only receiver on the Los Angeles Rams roster, researchers are still confirming — you could make a case Addison has been the league’s best rookie wideout thus far.
“Really both of his touchdowns now have kind of come on looks where he’s able to get behind the defense with his explosiveness, but then he’s also catching some balls underneath, he’s catching and running,” said head coach Kevin O’Connell after last Thursday’s game. “His versatility kind of pairing with J.J., and K.J., and T.J. [Hockenson] and Josh [Oliver] and some of the 12s. He just continues to show up. He’s growing every single time he steps on the grass in our offense.”
The only question now is: When do you give him a promotion?
Given 10 days between the Vikings’ 34-28 loss last Thursday and their Week 3 tilt versus the Los Angeles Chargers, it stands to reason the Vikings could toy with their personnel. (Case in point: Dalton Risner.)
An elevation up the depth chart for Addison, though, would require a figurative passing of the baton from Osborn, who has had the coaching staff’s support all offseason.
This is not a Bisi Johnson situation where Osborn is a mere seatwarmer. Johnson’s “breakout” season of 2019, which earned him a Week 1 opportunity in 2020, amounted to less than 300 yards, a yards-per-route-run figure that ranked him 91st out of 102 receivers and zero deep receptions. After Jefferson replaced him, Johnson made just 10 catches the rest of the year. Injuries have kept him out of the league ever since.
Osborn is a little harder to relegate. The fan favorite has put together back-to-back productive seasons in the WR3 role and Kirk Cousins has haled him as one of his favorite third-down options. Before Osborn’s three uncharacteristic drops in the last two games, the fourth-year pro had two drops combined in 162 career targets. His hands have always been his strong suit, as evidenced by a stellar 43 percent contested catch percentage entering the season. There was a belief inside the Vikings building during the offseason that Osborn, a pending free agent, would have such a big campaign that he’d be unaffordable on top of T.J. Hockenson‘s contract and Jefferson’s potential record-breaking deal.
No free passes are given out in the NFL, however, especially after an 0-2 start. Addison’s potential stardom merits a snap increase, which could serve two purposes.
One, it increases the verticality of Minnesota’s offense with a take-the-top-off receiver Osborn simply is not. Through two games, Addison’s depth of target (16.5) is tied with Darius Slayton for deepest in the league out of qualified receivers. If his presence on the field for another 25 snaps a game earns him one or two more deep throws, that could change an outcome.
Osborn crafted a niche thanks to his reliability in the short-to-intermediate game. Still, he’s never been terribly efficient from a yardage standpoint despite displaying toughness after the catch. His average depth of target has resided in the bottom half of the league for two consecutive years, and in turn his yards per route run has ranked 72nd out of 94 and 83rd out of 102, respectively. It’s okay to be the sure-handed short-yardage guy. There are lots of them in the league. But it’s a niche typically reserved for third receivers.
Two, Addison’s immediate ascension as a north-south threat could put Osborn back in the comfortable spot of running crossers against man coverage on third down while safeties do abrupt 180s to help on Addison. That’s always been Osborn’s strength. With Addison breaking the speed limit between the hash marks, Jefferson being the league’s ultimate intermediate threat and Osborn cleaning up underneath, the Vikings could have every level of the field occupied.
When Addison arrived in Minnesota, Cousins commented that Addison seemed to run a lot of post routes in college.
“That’s my favorite route,” Addison replied, instantly on the same page.
Even with a spring injury that kept Addison out of OTAs and mini-camp, the chemistry between the rookie wideout and the veteran quarterback was strong, beginning and now extending into regular season games.
Strong enough to elevate Addison to a potential every-down role.
