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Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell spoke to the media after the team's rookie minicamp practice at TCO Performance Center on Friday. Much of the discussion centered around the two most notable new players on the roster: recently-signed wide receiver Jauan Jennings and last month's first-round pick, Caleb Banks.

On the Jennings addition

A little over a week after hosting him on a visit, Jennings officially joined the Vikings on Thursday on a one-year deal that is reportedly worth up to $13 million including incentives. The former 49ers standout, who had 975 receiving yards in 2024 and caught 9 TD passes last season, gives Minnesota the best wide receiver trio in the NFL. He not only replaces Jalen Nailor but projects as an upgrade.

"Had a great visit with Jauan and really enjoyed my time I got to spend with him," O'Connell said. "He's a player that I've always, from afar, had a lot of respect for. He obviously brings size to the room, brings a level of play style and physicality — the guy loves playing football. And also the catch radius and the compete and the production that he's had. (We took) a pretty patient approach (at the receiver position), allowing ourselves to have some opportunity in the draft if it came to us, but always with a real mindset on Jauan being a target."

What makes this such a perfect fit for the Vikings is that Jennings is a big, physical receiver with a lot of versatility to his game. He can line up in the slot or he can line up out wide. He's a good route-runner with reliable hands and some juice after the catch, and he's also an excellent blocker. O'Connell and company will be able to deploy their big three of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Jennings in all kinds of different ways.

"We need a unique aspect to that (WR) room," O'Connell said. "You can't just be one thing. Because we move Justin around, we move Jordan around. You gotta be able to be a slot receiver, you gotta be able to do some of those jobs on the early downs that we ask of that player.

"You gotta be able to line up on third down, when you're one of the few players that might be single covered in man-to-man, you gotta be able to win, you gotta be able to make contested catches, and you gotta be able to do something with it after the catch. Jauan does all those things. I think Vikings fans are gonna fall in love with watching this guy play football, the passion and the physicality that he plays with. You can tell I'm excited about it."

Jennings has had some big games as a receiver, most notably a 175-yard, 3-touchdown outburst against the Rams in September 2024. But one of the great strengths of his game is his willingness and ability as a run blocker. At 6'3" and 212 pounds, he might help the Vikings run the ball just as much as he helps them throw it. This is a guy who has had highlight tapes made of his blocking alone.

"There are some unbelievable clips over the years of — if I said 'doing his job,' that would be a wild understatement," O'Connell said. "There's an emphasis that he wants to go out and play with a certain kind of play style that I think we've seen at times with different guys over the years. And we've kind of pieced the room together in different ways to maximize each guy's skill set.

"But that's what's so exciting about Jauan is he truly is a combo receiver that can line up on the ball as a single, he can line up in formations with other receivers, stacks, bunches. He understands how it all works together from marrying the run and the pass, and the jobs you do in the run game directly equaling some targets in different phases of the marriage of the run and the pass."

The Vikings expect Jennings to arrive in Minnesota on Sunday.

On Banks' health status

Banks, the No. 18 overall pick in this year's draft, was present at rookie minicamp on Friday but was not participating as he continues to recover from a March surgery on his foot. The Vikings feel very comfortable with his medical outlook moving forward.

"Caleb Banks is doing great," O'Connell said. "Got some more positive information here as he reported to Eagan in the last couple days, and very much looking forward to him establishing a great plan with our medical staff and the coaching staff. On the coaching staff side, how can we push Caleb from an above-the-neck standpoint to be that much more comfortable when he does get healthy? He gets a great chance this spring and summer to get strong and build himself up."

Right now, Banks has two things to focus on. The first is his rehab process with the Vikings' training staff. The second is learning as much as he possibly can inside the building. O'Connell noted that while they want someone like second-rounder Jake Golday to get physically comfortable playing one position before they throw other things at him, they don't have to worry about that with Banks right now.

"With Caleb, he doesn't necessarily have to worry about the physical side of it right now, other than just getting healthy," O'Connell said. "So we can hopefully challenge him to learn multiple spots that coincide with his versatility to align in different impactful spots along the D-line."

O'Connell said there's a chance Banks' foot could improve enough that he's able to get on the field at some point this spring, but he didn't want to get ahead of himself. The important date they're circling, it seems, is the start of training camp in late July.

"I just think we're happy with where he's at, all things considered," O'Connell said. "We want to have our eyes on that end-of-July date so he can hopefully have a seamless transition into training camp."


This article first appeared on Minnesota Vikings on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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