Vikings Speedster Is the Real Deal — or Irv Smith Jr. All Over Again
The good news is that Minnesota Vikings fans will get a verdict on wide receiver Jalen Nailor within the next few months.
Vikings Speedster Is the Real Deal — or Irv Smith Jr. All Over Again
The bad? Well, if Nailor summer hype turns out to be just summer hype, then an Irv Smith Jr. example would be rather vivid in hindsight.
Nailor enters Year No. 3 in Minnesota, a fairly pivotal campaign for the young speedster. The Vikings’ regular season begins in 38 days, so that verdict is incredibly close.
The Training Camp Heroics
Listen, Nailor “won” the first week of Vikings training camp, and few debate it. He fired up a wonderful start to camp in 2023, as well, but injuries later rattled his regular season, and he was a non-factor on Sundays.
Still, the highlight reel is evident as of late.
And this one:
Those are just a couple of several. Nailor is producing an outstanding camp in Eagan out of the gate after months of folks wondering, “Who will play WR3 for this team?” If July was a reasonable indicator, the answer is a rather emphatic “Jalen Nailor.”
His competition — Brandon Powell and Trent Sherfield — feel like total footnotes.
Irv Smith Jr. Lessons
In recent Vikings history, the status of summer God has occurred before. In fact, tight end Irv Smith Jr, now a Kansas City Chief, used to write this Nailor script annually. Minnesota found Smith Jr. in Round 2 of the 2019 NFL Draft, and each year until his exodus in 2022, Vikings faithful banged the drum for the athletic playmaker, referring to the upcoming autumn as “Irv Smith Season” or “Irv Smith SZN.”
Then, the regular season would arrive, and Smith Jr. would disappoint compared to his summer or outlook or fall victim to injury. For Nailor, the only tangible item to derail his ascent on the purple depth chart is — you guessed it — injury.
That’s why the Irv Smith Jr. parallel is difficult to ignore. We’ve seen this before.
The Stakes
These are Minnesota’s wide receivers at the start of August:
- Justin Jefferson
- Jordan Addison
- Jalen Nailor
- Brandon Powell
- Trent Sherfield
- Trishton Jackson
- Lucky Jackson
- Thayer Thomas
- Malik Knowles
- Ty James
- Jeshaun Jones
Heavy at the top, Kevin O’Connell needs one man, in particular, to bust out, at least to the tune of a WR3 statline: 700 receiving yards and 5 or so touchdowns. K.J. Osborn left the organization about five months ago, creating a WR3 opening.
Meanwhile, tight end T.J. Hockenson may not be available to start the season, recovering from a torn ACL. Jordan Addison’s status, too, is up in the air, as he could be suspended for a California arrest last month. Both situations potentially take Minnesota’s WR3 spot from “Who cares? We have Addison and Hockenson for all those targets” to “Oh, look. It’s Justin Jefferson and Johnny Mundt out there catching passes at the Giants.”
The purple team needs a WR3 to emerge, and if Nailor can avoid Smith Jr. tendencies from 2019 to 2022, the problem will be solved.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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