Jordan Addison  |  USC 5’11” 173 lbs.  |  01/27/2002 (21)

Jordan Addison was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, becoming the fourth Wide Receiver and 23rd overall player in the 2023 NFL Draft.

COLLEGE PRODUCTION

Jordan Addison burst onto the scene as a true freshman in 2020, leading his team in receiving with 60 receptions for 666 yards and four TDs for the Pittsburgh Panthers. Addison became a superstar in 2021, winning the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver and earning first-team Associated Press All-American and first-team All-ACC honors. He tied for the FBS lead with 17 receiving touchdowns and ranked sixth in the FBS with 100 receptions. Addison also finished fourth in the FBS with 1,593 receiving yards over a 14-game season.

He transferred to USC for the 2022 season and led the Trojans in receiving despite missing three games due to injury. Addison garnered a first-team All-Pac-12 Conference selection after putting up 59 receptions for 875 yards and eight TDs. While the production suffered during his lone season at USC, he also showed he was able to win from out wide, as opposed to only dominating in the slot. 

FILM

Jordan Addison is a great technician who is smooth in and out of breaks. He possesses a great ability to avoid contact, which is critical because he cannot break tackles or win contested catches. While physicality may be lacking, what you see in terms of hands, fluidity, route acumen, and football IQ more than compensate and allow Addison to excel. He can make the sudden movements needed to gain separation but may be relegated to the majority of his snaps in the slot at the next level. 

ATHLETIC TESTING

Addison’s performance at the NFL Scouting Combine can be described as solid but unspectacular. He ran a 4.49 40-yard dash with a 1.56 10-yard split. But he only jumped 34 inches in the vertical and 10’2″ in the broad jumps. He chose not to run the shuttle or three-cone drill and sat out the bench press (obviously).

DRAFT ANALYSIS 

Rapid Reaction to Draft Capital: Great

Rapid Reaction to Landing Spot: Excellent

Jordan Addison was selected with the 23rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. 

FANTASY INSIGHTS

Addison’s superb route running and short area separation skills allow him to play multiple roles fluidly, but it will be a test at the next level to see if he can succeed outside the slot. His variety of releases, polished route nuances, and use of leverage and pacing puts him ahead of his peers at this stage of his career, but his ceiling might be capped. He is not as big or as strong of a player as DeVonta Smith and he is not yet a technical savant-like Tyler Lockett, but he has shades of each player’s abilities in his game. 

Addison should be viewed as a late first-round pick. He is your author’s rookie WR4 currently, ahead of Zay Flowers, pending some other landing spots of WRs during today’s rounds of the draft.  

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