While the coverage of Minnesota Vikings training camp continues to center on quarterback J.J. McCarthy (and understandably so), one major storyline is flying a bit under the radar.
What kind of season is on tap for third-year wide receiver Jordan Addison?
As Vikings fans were expecting, Addison will miss the Vikings’ first three games of the 2025 season due to a suspension stemming from a 2024 DUI arrest. That’s a huge blow to an offense that’s not only breaking in a first-time starting quarterback but several new pieces overall.
Addison should still be poised for a monster year. He becomes extension eligible in 2026 and will have plenty to prove once his suspension gets lifted in Week 4. From that point forward, the Vikings should have one of the NFL's most feared wide receiver duos with Addison working opposite superstar Justin Jefferson.
Surprisingly, that doesn’t appear to be a universal opinion, however.
Minnesota Vikings WR duo gets egregiously low ranking from FOX Sports
When it comes to the top wide receiver tandems in football, the Vikings have a cheat code.
Analysts can debate Jefferson vs. Ja’Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb, and A.J. Brown, but we’re talking about a super short list when it comes to the game’s top singular talents at wide receiver.
There’s no arguing this: The Vikings have a guy, and when you pair Jefferson with an ascending talent like Addison, you have a top-five receiver duo, at minimum.
The staff at FOX Sports disagrees, and Vikings fans are sure to get a kick out of the network’s recent Instagram post, a graphic ranking the top 10 WR duos entering the 2025 season. Jefferson and Addison made the list — but just barely. Here were the rankings:
- Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Bengals
- A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, Eagles
- CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, Cowboys
- Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, Rams
- Jaxson Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp, Seahawks
- Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, Buccaneers
- Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, Lions
- Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, Dolphins
- Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel, Commanders
- Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, Vikings
This is so bad, all Vikings fans can do is collectively laugh and shake their heads. There’s no way anyone had old friend Sam Darnold boasting a better wide receiver duo than Minnesota on their bingo card when he signed back in March, but FOX does — by a wide margin.
Again, you could make an easy argument for Jefferson as the best wide receiver in football. With all due respect to Chase and his greatness, he’s had Joe Burrow funneling the ball to him since their days together at LSU. Jefferson will be paired with former sixth-round pick Jalen Nailor over the first three weeks of this season, and the Vikings will still have a fearsome duo at wide receiver.
This list feels more like a commentary on Addison, whose 133 catches, 1,786 yards, and 19 touchdowns through two seasons have been respectable but not yet spectacular. The Vikings are banking on the latter coming to fruition this season, and the 23-year-old should be plenty motivated to prove them right.
And apparently, prove a bunch of other people wrong.