With the 2023 season now over for the Minnesota Vikings, let's take a look at their selections from the 2023 NFL Draft and grade them after their first year.
The 2023 campaign is officially over for the Minnesota Vikings, and that means the team's rookies now have one full season under their belts.
The Vikings selected six players in the 2023 NFL Draft, and they all had varying degrees of contribution in year one.
Minnesota general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah also had a successful undrafted free agent class, as the team got some run out of a few players who were skipped over in the draft.
While grading a draft after just one year can be a futile exercise, it does give us a quick glimpse of what these young players did from a production standpoint.
It doesn't guarantee their success will continue and others may just need a season or two before they figure out the speed and mechanics of the professional game before they start giving the Vikings some return on their investment.
With Minnesota's 2023 season over, we will now grade these draft picks based both on production and potential.
Each 2023 draft selection will be put under the microscope, and then we will take a look at the class as a whole and give it a grade.
This grade will likely change over the years, but this will be an unbiased and fair assessment of how things went down in the first season for the Vikings' 2023 rookie class.
First-Round Pick (23rd Overall)
Jordan Addison - WR (USC)
2023 Stats:
- 70 receptions
- 911 receiving yards
- 10 touchdowns
Jordan Addison exceeded all expectations in his rookie season. He wowed early in training camp, and it took him no time to usurp K.J. Osborn on the depth chart to be the compliment to Justin Jefferson.
Addison showcased plenty of traits that make a great NFL receiver. He ran excellent routes, displayed sticky mitts, had good overall speed and burst, and was surprisingly tough for a guy of such diminutive stature.
Addison exploded for 70 receptions, 911 yards, and 10 scores in 2023. That was far more than even the most purple-colored eyes predicted he would do.
He put his name on the map during a Monday night matchup against the San Francisco 49ers when he took over the lead receiver role from an injured Jefferson.
In that game, he racked up seven receptions for 123 yards and two scores and proved he could be the No. 1 target.
Addison put up all of these numbers while playing with four different quarterbacks. It's exciting and even scary to think what he'd do with a full season with Kirk Cousins under center.
He's a special player, and there's no question the Vikings found a star.
Production Grade: A+
Potential Grade: A+