After an impressive first year with the franchise in which he found the end zone 10 times, many are expecting Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison to put together an even better performance during his second season with the team.
Heading into the 2024 campaign, Addison is assumed to be the No. 2 receiver for the Vikings behind Justin Jefferson. However, it seems like Minnesota could be attempting to give the 2023 first-round pick another role for the upcoming season in addition to his duties as a pass-catcher.
During the Vikings' training camp practice on Saturday, and again in the team's practice on Monday, Addison was seen out on the field working on returning punts. Is Minnesota just trying something different out in training camp, or is the team legitimately serious about using the second-year wide receiver as their punt returner in 2024?
Jordan Addison working on punt returns 👀 pic.twitter.com/iFACLiXOqc
— SKOR North - Minnesota Sports (@SKORNorth) July 29, 2024
Can Minnesota Vikings WR Jordan Addison excel as the team's punt returner in 2024?
Last season, we saw plenty of examples that proved why the Vikings used their first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on Addison. But a bunch of his targets came when Jefferson was sidelined with a hamstring injury.
With Jefferson fully recovered from his injury this year, Minnesota possibly making Addison the team's punt returner could just be the team making sure he will still get several opportunities per game to make a play with the football in his hands in the upcoming season.
This wouldn't be the first time that Addison has returned punts in his football career. During his breakout 2021 season at the University of Pittsburgh, when he caught 100 passes for 1,593 yards and 17 touchdowns, he also returned 12 punts and averaged 15.4 yards per return.
Following his 2021 campaign at Pittsburgh, Addison transferred to USC, and he only ended up returning four punts for the school during the 2022 season. With the Vikings last year, he didn't return any punts as he wasn't even on the field for a single special teams snap.
Minnesota's punter returner last season was Brandon Powell and he averaged 7.8 yards on 37 returns. The Vikings re-signed Powell earlier this year, but would the team rather have Addison be their punt returner in 2024?
With Addison working on returning punts in multiple Minnesota training camp practices, it seems like this is more than just a summer experiment. This is definitely something to keep an eye on during the next few weeks as the Vikings inch closer to the start of the 2024 regular season.