Vikings Meet with Big Rookie Wideout
The Minnesota Vikings are conducting a litany of pre-draft visits with rookies, with the 2025 NFL Draft about a week and a half away.
Vikings Meet with Big Rookie Wideout
The franchise has four picks during the event, the fewest in the NFL, but might swing some trades to add a few more selections. As it stands, the Vikings’ depth chart is in pretty fabulous shape after free agency, enabling the front office to target the best player available in the draft and/or trade around the board if it sees fit.
And during the lead-up process, Minnesota evidently met with Oregon wide receiver Traeshon Holden.
Oregon WR Traeshon Holden Meets with Vikings
The Draft Network‘s Justin Melo tweeted late last week, “The relationship between quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Traeshon Holden led to the WR posting a 45-718-5 line in 2024. Holden has a private workout with #Seahawks. Virtuals Vikings, Ravens, Giants, Steelers, Bengals, Titans.”
Holden told The Draft Network: “I have a workout with the Seattle Seahawks. I met with teams at the NFL Combine and at my Pro Day as well. I’ve chatted with the Vikings, Ravens, Giants, Steelers, Bengals, Seahawks, and Titans, as well. I want to try and make an immediate impact in any and all phases, offense and special teams. I’m just ready to prove myself. I’m going to show the coaching staff that I can be an asset. I belong. I’m one of the best.”
The Duck is 6’3″ and 215 pounds, with 4.57 speed.
He added during the TDN conversation, “There are a lot of cornerbacks in the league who can match my size. I love to use strength, quickness, and my feet to my advantage in coverage. You see a lot of bigger receivers like me, but a lot of them don’t move as well as I do.”
“I feel like I have great feet. I move well for my size. I get open. I try to marry my feet with my strength. I can throw them off my trail a little bit.”
Traeshon Holden Scouting Report
Holden is known for his size, hands, and redzone threat. His speed isn’t too dazzling, and his route tree will need refinement, which is often the case with tall wide receivers.
TDN’s Daniel Harms explains Holden’s scouting report: “Holden played in offenses where contested catches and jump balls weren’t often exercised, but he showed strong hands through contact the few times they asked it of him. He adjusted well to footballs with placement issues with regularity and showcased a good catch radius.”
“After the catch, he’s a limited stop-and-start player, but when he’s at speed, he can locate space and make a man miss occasionally to get into it. He won’t force a ton of missed tackles, but if he catches the football in a free lane, he can house it.”
He started his collegiate career at Alabama before transferring to Oregon.
Harms added, “Holden is an intriguing size/movement receiver with impressive physicality as a blocker and build-up speed. His vertical route tree is impressive, but consistently creating against man coverage and finding the soft spots in zone underneath will take some developing. He projects as an X-receiver who will give an offense good blocking snaps and test defenses vertically and over the middle of the field.”
Where in the Draft?
Here’s the kicker — Holden probably won’t be drafted.
He lives at No. 324 on the Consensus Big Board, far outside the scope of Round 7 and forecasting as a UDFA addition for some team.
If Holden becomes a Viking, it will probably occur on Saturday night, April 26th, when general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah onboards his customary undrafted free agent haul.
The UDFA Process
Since Adofo-Mensah took over as the head boss in 2022, he’s used undrafted free agency to fortify his summer roster.
He has two chief methods — that seem to work:
- He uses the draft’s Top 30 visit process to chat with players who may not be drafted so that when it’s time for a UDFA to sign a contract, the player has the Vikings vividly in his memory bank. It’s quite brilliant.
- Adofo-Mensah tends to spend liberally on UDFAs, perhaps outbidding other teams that may not pay as much.
Vikings WR Goals in Draft
Some onlookers believe Minnesota could use this month’s draft to select a possible WR3 of the future. And while that could materialize, the purple coaching staff has heaped praise on Jalen Nailor this offseason. He seems to very much be the team’s WR3 in 2025, reducing the possibility of a rookie wideout.
A player like Holden, however, would represent depth and youth — not necessarily WR3 contendership.
Holden will turn 24 this summer. He was a teammate to former Vikings cornerback Khyree Jackson, who tragically passed away last summer.
Beloved Former Viking Calls It Quits
You must be logged in to post a comment.