4 best Vikings from their Week 8 victory over the Green Bay Packers
By Luke Parrish
1. K.J. Osborn - WR
After weeks of wondering if he would step into a larger role, K.J. Osborn finally broke through and helped the passing game in a major way. He finished the afternoon with a team-high eight catches for 99 yards.
While Jordan Addison is getting a lot of attention, Osborn is slowly becoming more of a threat in the passing game. K.J. is going to be even more important over the next few weeks as the Vikings try to find a rhythm with a new quarterback. The more weapons they have, the better off they will be offensively.
This was the type of game where Osborn needed to be reliable, and he delivered. It was a cold afternoon when the run game could not get going, but Osborn was able to find spots in the middle of the field and pick up chunk yardage when the team needed it.
His size and strength with the ball can be utilized as more of a runner in space, which should be more of an effort when feeding him the ball. I think using the screen game with him should be more of a factor moving forward, regardless of whether Justin Jefferson is on the field or not.
If this was the breakout game for Osborn, the offense is going to be in good hands with Jaren Hall - or whoever else is at quarterback. Obviously, they will not be nearly as effective, but they will have enough playmakers to at least make things interesting.