Vikings' top 5-6 wide receivers could be surprising
Justin Jefferson, KJ Osborn and Jordan Addison are locks as the top three wide receivers – barring injury – on the Minnesota Vikings roster, but how many receivers will they keep and who will join the aforementioned trio?
Purple Insider's Matthew Coller believes head coach Kevin O'Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will have a difficult decision that could wind up yielding six receivers on the roster when the season begins Sept. 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"I think the hardest decision is Jalen Nailor, Trishton Jackson and then Jalen Reagor and Brandon Powell," said Coller on Purple Insider Thursday. Coller then wondered aloud if Nailor, who has been out with an undisclosed injury, could be cut, clear waivers and then be placed on the practice squad, or perhaps placed on injured reserve to delay any decision about the 2022 sixth-round pick out of Michigan State.
"Right now, I would have Jackson on the team and I would have Reagor as well, and probably Nailor and keep six wide receivers. That could be the answer," said Coller.
🗣️ Coach KOC's words are still ringing in Trishton Jackson's ears 👏 pic.twitter.com/2SfzHetcuP
— Minnesota Vikings UK (@UKVikings) August 18, 2023
In that scenario, the top six wide receivers on the team would be Jefferson, Osborn, Addison, Jackson, Reagor and Nailor. Did anyone have Trishton Jackson, who went undrafted in 2020, projected as the No. 4 wideout before training camp began?
If those six do make the roster, it would mean Brandon Powell and N'Keal Harry, along with Thayer Thomas, Blake Proehl, Jacob Copeland, Lucky Jackson and Garett Maag, would be cut.
I’ve always just liked Trishton Jackson. He just looks like a player to me. Two TD catches in the red zone practices today, one a jaw-dropper
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) August 17, 2023
Trishton Jackson catches a touchdown in the two-minute drill to close out a really good practice for him. He makes multiple plays literally every day.
— Dane Mizutani (@DaneMizutani) August 17, 2023
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.