EAGAN — It’s a long, long offseason for rookies in the NFL.
Jordan Addison caught his last pass in a real game on December 2, 2022, which means it will have been 282 days between playing in meaningful football contests when he takes the field for his debut at US Bank Stadium on Sunday. Along the way the 2021 Biletnikoff award winner had to shut down early due to a back strain at the NFL Combine, then an injury kept him from participating in OTAs or minicamp and right before training camp Addison was pulled over for going nearly three times the speed limit.
But once he finally got a chance to practice, the Vikings’ first-round pick left no questions about why he was a first-round selection. It took him no time at all to earn every rep with the first team and make wow-worthy catches.
“A little bit toward the end of that first week [of training camp], I feel like I was able to get comfortable,” Addison said on Monday.
The former Pitt and USC star played in one preseason game and flashed his ball-tracking skill with a sideline diving reception (that did not count because he was ruled out of bounds and the play wasn’t challenged) but he missed the second preseason game after entering the concussion protocol. Aside from that short absence, he was able to practice fully throughout the rest of camp — certainly enough to understand how different NFL players are from college.
“I’m anticipating for it to be a lot different,” Addison said. “I’ve been out here practicing against NFL defenses the whole camp, so I’m expecting it to be like that but just a little faster since it’s live and a little more physical.”
Addison said that one thing he had to focus on was a sense of urgency coming out of the huddle. The pace of the NFL is different and there’s a lot more to process at the line of scrimmage, particularly with Kevin O’Connell dialing up plays.
“That’s the league right now, there’s a lot of people moving around, a lot of motions, a lot of reads for us as the offense to see what the defense is doing,” tight end TJ Hockenson said.
Addison would only say, “we’ll see what’s in the gameplan,” when he was asked about moving around to different spots but you can bet that he will rarely be lined up in the same spot twice during his debut on Sunday.
One of the issues the Vikings offense faced last year was trying to punish teams for putting all of their coverage efforts into stopping Justin Jefferson. No receiver with at least 50 targets averaged more than 11 yards per reception and by the end of the year opponents were daring them to lean on anyone else. In his final three games of the season (including the playoff matchup with New York), Jefferson gained 15, 38 and 47 yards after picking up 100-plus yards in 10 of his first 15 games. Addison understands that trend isn’t going to change and that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be spending the week drawing up gameplans to stop the world’s best receiver, which opens up opportunities for him from the opening drive.
“That’s what excites me, to get the one-on-one matchups,” Addison said. “I know he’s going to take a lot of attention. Really all I have to do is make sure I win my one-on-one and catch the ball.”
Expectations are already high for Addison. ESPN’s Mike Clay is projecting 57 receptions for 768 yards and five touchdowns for his opening season.
For Addison, Sunday’s game is the culmination of a journey to the NFL that started with him playing quarterback as a kid, making the decision to stick at receiver despite getting recruited as a defensive back, going to Pitt and then across the country to USC, getting drafted and then waiting five more months before actually getting to prove himself. It would be an understatement to say he’s ready to go.
“As a kid this is where I always wanted to be, to play in the NFL, I just never knew what team it was going to be,” Addison said. “Now that it’s the Vikings, I get to go put that logo on and go out there and live that dream. I’m going to make sure I do that a whole lot of fun.”
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