Jordan Addison promised he would be ready once he put the pads on. Though he missed all of organized team activities this spring, working his way back from a minor injury, he wasn’t worried about being too far behind for training camp.
“I’ve been doing this all my life,” he said at the start of training camp. “I’ll be able to jump back in and get to where I need to be at.”
That has been the case so far as Addison has showcased why the Vikings selected him No. 23 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. Whether it’s making a diving catch over the middle last week in team drills, or smoking cornerback Joejuan Williams this week in individual drills, Addison has certainly looked the part of a successful draft pick.
“What he’s done on the grass so far has confirmed a lot of the things that we expected from Jordan,” coach Kevin O’Connell said. “He’s also done some things instinctively, playing football within the confines of our scheme.”
A perfect example of that came this week during a scramble drill. As quarterback Kirk Cousins moved around in the pocket to keep a play alive, Addison improvised on the fly, finding a sliver of space in the corner of the end zone, then tapping his toes inbounds to make the catch.
“He’s a natural catcher of the football,” Cousins said. “He tracks the ball well. I’m excited about continuing to do more with him to get him involved. Hopefully that can take pressure off of our other guys and make teams have to defend even more grass.”
It’s not hard to imagine Addison complementing fellow Vikings receivers Justin Jefferson, K.J. Osborn, and T.J. Hockenson on the field. It seems as if O’Connell is banking on the fact that opposing teams won’t be able to defend everyone at once. Especially with all of those pass catchers capable of playing all over the field.
“He’s handled it well,” Cousins said. “I’ve always been surprised at how well rookies transition, because whether it was me getting drafted or me coming here in free agency, I felt like it took me a lot longer to learn everything and adapt well to what I observe the other guys being able to do."
It helped that Addison spent most of his summer in Minnesota as he recovered from a minor injury. He got to work with receiver coach Keenan McCardell regularly as he learned the playbook front to back.
“I think he takes pride in himself as a player to make sure when he goes out here for practice that he hears it the first time and knows what to do,” Cousins said. “We just need him in the huddle hearing plays, getting lined up and stacking up those opportunities.”
Maybe the biggest thing that Cousins has realized about Addison in practice so far is his ability to battle for the ball in traffic. That skill will be tested even more over the next couple of weeks.
“He’s pretty natural at the catch point, which is exciting,” Cousins said. “When we’re not in full-go tackle, it’s harder to evaluate that, and that’s where we have to get in preseason games.”
As of right now, O’Connell said his main goal for Addison, like everyone else on the team, is for him to get 1 percent better every practice.
“Every time he doesn’t understand something, I’m trying to teach him how to understand it or ask him what he’s got on this play, so he knows when he comes out on the field,” Jefferson said. “I want to be that guy to teach him and help him work his way through that.”
https://www.twincities.com/2023/08/03/vikings-rookie-receiver-jordan-addison-drawing-tons-of-praise-in-training-camp/