All but three of Jalen Nailor’s offensive snaps came in blowout losses to the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers and the meaningless Week 18 game against the Chicago Bears. However, one came against the New Orleans Saints in London; another in the win over Mike White’s New York Jets. But I want to focus on the snap he got against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15.
You remember the game. The one where former ESPN broadcaster Jeff Saturday and 37-year-old Matt Ryan built a 33-0 lead at halftime. The one where Indianapolis had a 95% chance to win while leading 36-28 with 2:37 left in the game, according to ESPN analytics. Dalvin Cook reels off the 64-yard screen 12 seconds later, and Greg Joseph hits the 60-yarder with three seconds left in overtime. A historic comeback.
Jalen Reagor’s mishaps got lost in the madness. Kirk Cousins dropped back to pass on third-and-three from Minnesota’s 12-yard line with 5:50 to go in the second quarter. He quickly passes the ball in Reagor’s direction, only to throw it directly to Indianapolis’ Julian Blackmon for a pick-six to make it 30-0 Colts. Reagor thought Indianapolis was in man; they were in zone. Later, with 8:09 left in the fourth quarter, Cousins progresses through his reads and unleashes a deep ball for Reagor. However, Reagor gives up on his route, and Rodney Thomas II intercepts it.
Nailor’s only snap of the game came on a four-receiver set during Minnesota’s next possession. Reagor never saw the field again in the comeback. Before that game, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said Reagor was missing some nuances because the Vikings traded for him after camp had concluded. Regardless, the 2020 first-rounder who the Philadelphia Eagles took ahead of Justin Jefferson missed an opportunity last year.
Adam Thielen was their WR2; K.J. Osborn locked down WR3. But the Vikings released Thielen in the offseason, and they’re about to extend Jefferson for quarterback money. Still, for Jefferson and Minnesota to succeed, they will need young, inexpensive receivers to step up and take attention away from him. As their first-round pick this year, they expect Jordan Addison to carry some of that load. However, he’ll probably benefit more from Jefferson’s presence than the other way around. And T.J. Hockenson could receive the second-most targets in the offense next year.
Still, the Vikings will need tertiary players to play crucial roles for the offense to work. Jefferson’s sublime play is borderline artistic. His routes tell a story, allowing him to socially distance himself from defenders. Tree frogs are jealous of his grip. Jefferson dances in rhythm and with immaculate body control after scoring. But defenses can curtail his creativity if they’re allowed to focus on him. Therefore, players like Osborn, Nailor, and Reagor must become capable of taking on more significant roles.
“It’s been great to see Jalen Reagor with a full install from ground zero, come out here and have a little bit better chance to get the details,” said Phillips at organized team activities on Tuesday after praising Osborn and Nailor. “Just in general, the details of the whole pass game have been greatly improved because now we’re going into Year 2, and we’re kinda re-installing things and detailing things as opposed to trying to teach the whole scheme.”
Nailor’s Michigan State teammates nicknamed him Speedy. The Vikings felt his raw speed was a blue skill, meaning NFL-ready, and used a sixth-round pick on him last year. Nailor played 33 snaps in Chicago, 12 in the Dallas blowout, and nine in Green Bay, giving Phillips a fair sample size to work with.
Jalen’s a really good player. Every opportunity he kinda gets to show out, he shows up. We put together a lot of install tapes to teach the concepts as we go. A lot of the things, whether it’s the opportunities against Chicago or Green Bay that he got to play, or whether it’s from practice clips from last year, he just shows up a lot as far as doing the right thing, being where he’s supposed to be, and then having the athletic ability to make the play.
The Vikings are moving from a Sean McVay-inspired 11-personnel scheme to Andy Reid’s 12-personnel base in the offseason. Doing so should enable Hockenson to play the Travis Kelce role and take some pressure off Jefferson. But it won’t work as intended if defenses feel Jefferson and Hockenson are the only bona fide threats. The depth receivers who make up the negative space around them must do their jobs to bring out the best in them. That means learning a complex offense and focusing on the details of their routes. Phillips says that’s why he’s been moving the players around in OTAs.
It’s challenging. You see it out there. We had a little developmental period for young guys, and the one thing we’re not gonna do, though, is we’re not gonna sugarcoat it, make it vanilla. We’re gonna push these guys. We’re gonna move them around in different spots just because we have a belief that once you know the formations, you gotta know the formations. But you’re gonna learn, conceptually, when you’re put in these spots.
You’re not always gonna be in this spot running this route in this concept. We’re gonna keep mixing it up. Because that’s what we’ll do when we game plan. So we want to feel the same for, certainly, the guys that are playing, but the new guys kinda have to play some catchup.
Reagor may reach his potential as a first-round pick after a training camp with the Vikings. Nailor may round out his game, allowing him to maximize his elite speed. And it’s hard to count out Osborn, the fifth-round pick Minnesota took as a returner who turned himself into a reliable third receiver. The Vikings have some intriguing options in their receiving corps. But they have to manifest into reliable receivers come Week 1 for Jefferson to turn the field into his canvas.
