With Jefferson Shelved, Vikings Will Lean on Impressive Rookie Jordan Addison

Addison's big game on Sunday serves as a silver lining to the Jefferson injury news.

Justin Jefferson is on injured reserve, meaning the Vikings will be without their best player and one of the NFL's top receivers for at least four games.

If there's a silver lining to that news, it's that rookie Jordan Addison — who had the best game of his career in Sunday's loss against the Chiefs — is about to be unleashed even further. Addison has played roughly 67 percent of the Vikings' snaps this season. Moving forward, he figures to be closer to an every-down player, as long as he can hold his own as a run-blocker.

Kevin O'Connell acknowledged this week that in Jefferson's absence, the Vikings will have to modify an offense that has been built around the attention No. 18 commands on every single snap. Addison, K.J. Osborn, and T.J. Hockenson will all be central parts of that plan.

"How can we continue to activate a lot of things when a lot of our pass game has really been built around so much coverage being deployed to Justin?" O'Connell said. "We got a lot of double teams yesterday, a lot of physical play at the line of scrimmage for him that opened some things up for some other guys. Whether people decide to play us a little more straight up or true, how we run it maybe against some looks that, quite frankly, we don’t get a whole lot (will be key)."

Addison, the No. 23 overall pick out of USC in this year's draft, has hit the ground running to start his Vikings career. He caught long touchdown passes in each of his first two NFL games, then had a season-high six receptions in Week 3. After being held without a catch against the Panthers — in a game where Kirk Cousins attempted fewer than 20 passes — Addison led the Vikings in catches (6) and receiving yards (64) against the Chiefs on Sunday.

Jordan Addison has three touchdowns in five games and will see an even bigger role in Justin Jefferson's absence / Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Cousins clearly has a lot of trust in the rookie already. They connected twice on fourth downs, another time on third down, and once in the end zone for Addison's third touchdown in five games.

"Jordan is the real deal," Cousins said after the game. "We hit on that draft pick. He's a great player. Has great hands and runs great routes."

Addison is undersized, so the Vikings will try to move him around and avoid having him see too much physical press coverage. He's already shown improvement in that area during his first month in the league, using some smooth releases to get open off the line of scrimmage against Kansas City. Addison is a natural, silky route-runner who changes direction with ease and possesses the speed to separate out of his breaks.

He's also had very reliable hands thus far. Out of the Vikings' six pass-catchers with at least ten targets, Addison (27 targets) is the only one without a drop, according to PFF. (Jefferson has just one drop on 52 targets, while Osborn, Hockenson, and Alexander Mattison have three apiece).

After watching the tape, O'Connell said he thought Addison could've had an even bigger day on Sunday. The Vikings' head coach has been thoroughly impressed by what the rookie has brought to this offense.

"I think the thing that really jumped out (Sunday) was how fast he was playing," O'Connell said. "No matter what he was doing, he was running and was going. He was getting on edges, running away from coverage. I think he’s improving avoiding some of the (physical) play that young players tend to get in their first few weeks in the NFL, throwing off their rhythm and timing. He had some great releases yesterday, and then catch-transition ... elite hands catches. So many things you like about receiver play, he does so naturally and he’s just improving with every opportunity he gets. Really excited about Jordan. Lucky to have him."

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