By: Jake Rajala

The Philadelphia Eagles (finally) moved on from wide receiver Jalen Reagor – as they sent him to the Twin Cities. In return, Philly will get a 2023 seventh-round pick & a 2024 fourth-round pick (which may downgrade to a fifth-round pick if particular markers aren’t met). The former Eagles wideout had 396 yards and one touchdown in 11 contests in his rookie season. He ousted a 64 grade by PFF in his rookie campaign and a 56.3 grade in his sophomore season. It was safe to say that he didn’t take a step forward in his sophomore year (299 yds and 1 TD). With that said, I’m going to hand out grades for the Eagles and Vikings for their efforts in the Jalen Reagor trade.

Vikings grade: B

I love that the Vikings made Reagor join Justin Jefferson, who has drawn plenty of amusing comparisons to the former Eagle. I also really like the upside that the former Eagles playmaker carries. He is still 23 years old (which is nine years younger than Adam Thielen) and this will be the first time that he’s played with a QB that’s thrown over 4,000 passing yards and 30 touchdowns. He sits at WR4 looking behind the extremely gifted WR1 Jefferson, the savvy veteran in Thielen, and the underrated K.J. Osborn.

The Vikings haven’t won the NFC North since 2017 and it’s far and beyond clear that they are trying to gain every edge possible to reclaim the NFC North throne.

Eagles grade: B

The Eagles capitalized on the right opportunity to trade away Reagor, to say the least. He may have potential and he could very well be a potent WR3 or WR2 in this league. Nonetheless, he still sits behind a couple of freakish talented WRs in AJ Brown and Devonta Smith. He was even beaten out by Quez Watkins at WR3. Let’s not forget that Philly has an ascending, highly talented TE in Dallas Goedert (830 yds last season). Reagor was sadly out of the picture and he will be remembered as an “Eagles” bust.

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By: Jake Rajala

The Minnesota Vikings unequivocally have one of the NFL’s top wide receiver combinations with Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. Of course, Jefferson was second in the league in receiving yards (with 1,616 yds) last season. Jefferson also had 27 catches of 20+ yards — which was good for second in the league. The former LSU WR hauled in 10 receiving TDs, too. Jefferson’s all-around performance garnered him a 90.1 grade by PFF. The Vikings-gifted WR1 is eligible for a contract extension after this season.

His partner, Adam Thielen, might be 31, but he has still honestly been an effective wideout at this stage in his career. He hauled in 10 touchdowns last season — after notching 14 receiving TDs in 2020. Thielen also recorded 925 receiving yds in 2020 and 726 receiving yds in 13 games a season ago. PFF handed the UDFA legend a modest 74.6 grade for his 2021 outcome. Thielen is still under contract in 2022, 2023, and 2024 with the Vikings.

The Vikings WR3, K.J. Osborn, should compete with Irv Smith Jr. as the biggest x-factor in the Vikings offense. Osborn unleashed 50 receptions, 655 receiving yds, and 7 TDs in his sophomore season. Osborn garnered a 64.9 grade by PFF. He has proven to be quite the steal as a fifth-round draft pick. They also will anticipate production from Ihmir Smith-Marsette — who ousted 116 receiving yds and 2 TDs last season.

All in all, the Vikings really have a superb WR group heading into the 2022 season. They should especially leach on the Lions and Bears pedestrian pass defense — as they proceed to help Kirk Cousins (35 passing TDs in 2020 and 33 passing TDs in 2021) return to the post-season.

The post Minnesota Vikings wide receiver outlook right now appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Conner Wickland

1. The Return of Danielle Hunter

Yes, Danielle Hunter stormed to the quarterback with an impressive sack on third down midway into the 4th quarter, giving the ball back to a Minnesota offense that was trailing by three points. But before that point, the Vikings’ defensive superstar was largely unseen. In fact, apart from this play resulting from a blown protection call, Hunter did not register a single QB pressure during the entire game. Despite playing 87% of the snaps on Sunday, Hunter’s former teammate Riley Reiff was able to take him out of the game. 

While it’s unclear if Reiff was extra motivated to win in his revenge game against the team that released him, it was a rough start for Hunter. However, you can expect him to shake off the rust soon. This was Hunter’s first game back since missing the entire 2020 season with a neck injury. Still, the Minnesota Vikings were confident enough in his ability to give him a reworked deal this offseason, paying the defensive end a $5.6m signing bonus and the ability to make $20m next year to ward off a potential hold-out.

One game won’t tell the story of the Minnesota Vikings, and it definitely isn’t the end of Danielle Hunter’s career.

2. Newfound Special Teams’ Dominance

One of the surprise storylines coming out of week one was the Vikings dominance on special teams. Surely, this would’ve been the main talking point had NFL officials overturned a Dalvin Cook fumble and allowed third-year kicker Greg Joseph to hit a game-winning field goal. Joseph came into the season with questions after not finding a long-term home with either the Cleveland Browns in 2018 or the Tennessee Titans in 2019. He put that all to rest after nailing a career-long 53 yarder at the end of regulation and then hitting it again after being iced by Cincinnati Bengal Head Coach Zac Taylor.

But Greg Joseph wasn’t the only success story to positively shock Vikings fans on special teams. The newly signed punter Jordan Berry impressed with long, arching punts – six of them going for 45 yards or more – often pinning the Bengals offense back out of scoring range. This included an overtime launch of 63 yards that stuck the Bengals at their own 10 yard-line. Despite only being signed nine days before kickoff, the 30-year old Jordan Berry is already solidifying his spot as the long-term punting option for the Vikings.

3. The Emergence of K.J. Osborn

For years, the Minnesota Vikings have struggled to fill the wide receiver positing past their front two stars. In 2018, The Vikings leading wide receiver behind Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs was Laquon Treadwell, with 302 yards. In 2019, it was Olabisi Johnson with 294 yards. Last year, they swapped out Stefon Diggs for Justin Jefferson, but their third wide receiver Chad Beebe only fit into the mix with 201 yards.

The Vikings have used their tight ends to pick up the pace in years past, but they were dealt a huge blow when Irv Smith Jr was sidelined with a huge preseason injury that ended his breakout season before it began. The team responded with a high-priced trade for Jet’s Tight End Chris Herdon, but entered Sunday looking like the same old offense that would rely on Thielen and Jefferson to handle the load.

Instead, we watched K.J. Osborn make the most of his opportunities in this offense. He made a great drive-saving play on 3rd and 24 that set up the Vikings for an early Touchdown in the second quarter, and ended the day with 76. While it’s way too early to extrapolate from one game, Osborn would be on pace to end the year with 1,292 yards, a far cry from the sub-400 yard performances of Minnesota Wide Receivers in the past.

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