NFL Draft Notebook: Caleb Williams leads USC’s draft prospects

Jordan Addison fit with the Vikings

Last year’s top USC NFL Draft pick was wide receiver Jordan Addison who went to Minnesota with the 23rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. One of the biggest reasons he was the fourth wide receiver off the board was his outstanding college production having caught 159 passes over his last two years in college for 2,468 yards.

Another trait that stuck out to scouts on Addison was his ability to consistently get open. In this area, he showed the agility to get in and out of his cuts quickly, and also the overall football intelligence to consistently gain leverage on his defender. One other plus with Addison’s game that helped him consistently get separation was his crisp route running as he was one of the top route runners in the 2024 NFL Draft class.

This ability to get separation has already drawn plenty of praise with the Vikings as well. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has already mentioned several times how advanced Addison’s game is and how impressed the team is with his ability to consistently find open space. This high level of understanding of the game should really help Addison in the Vikings game that relies on choice routes by their wide receivers.

An area of Addison’s game that keeps improving is his hands. He really struggled with this in his first couple of years of college at Pittsburgh with drops having dropped 14.3 percent of his passes in 2020 and 9.9 percent in 2021 according to Pro Football Focus. However, he only dropped two passes last year at USC. In order to become the Vikings’ number two wide receiver he is going to need to continue to show consistent hands.

The biggest concern with Addison though might be a lack of maturity. This was a knock on him coming out of USC, and the fact he was stopped for going 140 mph does not help ease this concern. Another issue is that he missed all organized team activities and minicamps due to an injury. This shouldn’t be a major concern though since he didn’t battle any major injuries in college and was ready to go at the start of training camp.

When it comes to what role Addison will have this season he will likely be the team’s number two receiver behind Justin Jefferson. This spot will likely open up plenty of one-on-one situations for him as teams will roll their defenses towards Jefferson who is one of the top wide receivers in the NFL. Overall on the season, it is not out of the question for him to end the season with around 75 catches.