While the Minnesota Vikings are still technically alive in the NFC playoff picture heading into their Week 15 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys, they'll need a lot of things to go their way down the stretch to actually claim a postseason spot. And that's even if they win out to finish the season at 9-8.
Truth be told, the Vikings could actually be officially eliminated before they even take the field on Sunday night if the Chicago Bears beat the Cleveland Browns or the Detroit Lions upset the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday afternoon.
But even with their postseason odds sitting at less than one percent, the Vikings can still get a lot out of these final four weeks. For starters, they can at least play spoiler in three of their four games, as the Cowboys, Detroit Lions (Week 17), and Green Bay Packers (Week 18) are still fighting for playoff spots. But even beyond that, getting J.J. McCarthy four more games of competitive reps will undoubtedly be helpful, as Minnesota obviously has to start thinking about its QB situation for the 2026 season.
That said, McCarthy shouldn't be the only player taking somewhat of a test over the next few weeks, as the Vikings are also in a position to see what they've got in rookie wideout Tai Felton, who was taken in the third round of this past April's draft with the 102nd overall pick but hasn't gotten much of a chance at all to play with the offense.
The Minnesota Vikings would be wise to give Tai Felton more offensive snaps over the final four weeks
The majority of Vikings fans seemed to be pleased with the selection of Felton, who earned First-Team All-Big 10 honors in his final season at Maryland after a school-record 96 passes for 1,124 yards with nine touchdowns.
Some even believed he could steal the WR3 spot from Jalen Nailor, but that obviously hasn't happened, as the 22-year-old has spent the vast majority of his time on special teams. In fact, the only times Felton has taken snaps with the offense came in blowouts, getting 12 in Minnesota's 48-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3, six in a 37-10 defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 8, and 11 in last Sunday's 31-0 win over the Washington Commanders.
But even in those 29 snaps, Felton has been targeted only twice. To his credit, he at least caught passes, with a 9-yarder against the Bengals and a 10-yarder against the Commanders.
With Adam Thielen gone, Felton has moved up the depth chart, and there really is no better time for the Vikings to start giving him more opportunities. I mean, what's the point of using a Day 2 pick on someone you're not going to play? And let's not forget that Nailor is set to become an unrestricted free agent at season's end, so seeing what Felton can do would obviously serve Minnesota well at this point, as there's a strong chance Nailor is wearing a different uniform next year.
Even if it's a screen pass like the one McCarthy hit him with last week, which he turned into a 10-yard gain when he probably only should've gone for about five, as there were no blockers to help him, just give the guy a few designed plays per game over the next few weeks to see what you've got. If Felton and McCarthy can develop even some slight chemistry now, that obviously bodes well going into the offseason.