Jalen Nailor snags fourth touchdown of the season

Jalen Nailor made a huge play on Sunday Night Football

Former Michigan State football WR Jalen Nailor has carved himself a very nice role within the Minnesota Vikings offense. The wide out has played a complementary role to star wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.

On Sunday Night Football, with the Vikings playing a closely contested game against the Indianapolis Colts, Nailor hauled in his fourth touchdown of the year in a pivotal spot.

Watch the touchdown by the former Spartan via X:

https://x.com/SkySportsNFL/status/1853361985577988474

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Vikings’ Jalen Nailor credits WR coach Keenan McCardell for development

The biggest surprise is Vikings wide receiver Jalen Nailor, who has played a major role in the team’s offense. 

The Minnesota Vikings’ passing attack has taken off this year, with Sam Darnold doing a more than sufficient job replacing Kirk Cousins. The team doesn’t have J.J. McCarthy at their disposal, but the skill weapons around Darnold have stepped up.

The biggest surprise is Vikings wide receiver Jalen Nailor, who has played a major role in the team’s offense.

Nailor appeared on Kay Adams’ show Up and Adams and discussed his breakout. He quickly credited wide receiver coach Keenan McCardell for him taking the next step he needed in his career.

“Working with Keenan McCardell, he’s been helping me so much.”

On the season, the former Michigan State Spartan has accumulated eight receptions for 137 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He has made several big catches and was able to step up while Jordan Addison was nursing his ankle back from its Week 1 injury.

Sam Darnold has shown Nailor will continue to earn meaningful targets throughout the 2024 season based on his 11 targets.

Minnesota Vikings linked to wide receiver in 2025 free agency

Despite wide receiver Jalen Nailor playing well in 2024, Bleacher Report has linked the Vikings to Tyler Boyd in 2025 NFL free agency.

One of the more publicized supposed weaknesses for the Minnesota Vikings heading into the 2024 season was their situation at the third wide receiver spot. Many thought the Vikings had a big hole in their roster at the position and needed to upgrade. The Vikings’ front office thought otherwise and trusted what they had in-house with wide receiver Jalen Nailor.

Through the first three games of the season, Nailor has performed well in his position, giving the Vikings seven receptions on nine targets and turning those seven catches into 106 yards and three touchdowns. Combine that with the added receiving element out of the backfield with Aaron Jones, and the Vikings passing attack has worked well through three games — despite the absence of tight end T.J. Hockenson all season and wide receiver Jordan Addison for two games.

While Nailor has performed admirably as the team’s third option, that hasn’t stopped NFL analysts from speculating on what the Vikings may do at the position for the rest of 2024 and into 2025. Last week, the Bleacher Report Scouting Department suggested the Vikings should sign former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Russell Gage to boost the core group and give them another option at WR3.

This week, the team at Bleacher Report has doubled down on their opinion that the Vikings need to get better at WR3. While they aren’t suggesting the Vikings make a move immediately this week, they have linked the Vikings to former Cincinnati Bengals and current Tennessee Titans wide receiver Tyler Boyd.

The Bleacher report argues that Boyd would be a “perfect fit” in the WR3 spot for the Vikings, as that was his primary responsibility for the Cincinnati Bengals in a wide receivers room with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Boyd has consistently been one of the better tertiary options in the league, putting up over 2,200 yards and seven touchdowns during his three seasons as the Bengals’ third option.

Boyd hasn’t gotten off to a great start with his new team, Tennessee, in an increased role. He has only gotten eight passes for 77 yards through three games with the Titans. Minnesota and their fans may not see WR3 as a need going forward, but it’s clear that the media perception begs to differ.

Vikings get good news on the injury front regarding Sam Darnold

The injuries are mounting for the Minnesota Vikings, but they got some good news on three players who missed Sunday’s game, and their QB.

The NFL season is the ultimate grind in sports, and no team comes through it unscathed. Injuries are a part of the game and something that every team has to deal with to varying degrees during the season. The injuries are starting to mount for the Minnesota Vikings, but they got good positive news on Monday.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell told the press on Monday that wide receiver Jordan Addison, linebacker Ivan Pace, Jr., and edge rusher Dallas Turner are all day-to-day with their injuries, but the coach “sounded optimistic on all,” according to Minnesota Vikings beat reporter Alec Lewis.

All three players missed Sunday’s win over the Houston Texans, but the Vikings were able to get strong contributions from players in their absence. Wide receiver Jalen Nailor stepped up in the absence of Addison, catching three of his four targets for 31 yards and a touchdown.

Linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill was one of the studs of the week for the Vikings in place of Pace, notching a big interception, defending another pass, and making several nice open-field tackles. At the same time, free agent acquisition Jonathan Greenard had a huge day against his former team, notching three sacks on the day and ensuring the Vikings didn’t miss their first-round pick, Turner.

The Vikings got more good news on the injury front, as the team revealed that quarterback Sam Darnold suffered a bruised knee in the game on Sunday and avoided any structural damage. Darnold isn’t expected to miss any time with the injury and should be good to continue a season that could wind up being his career-best when all is said and done.

Watch former Spartan WR Jalen Nailor score his third TD of season

Former Michigan State wide receiver Jalen Nailor is off to a great start this year for the Minnesota Vikings

Former Michigan State wide receiver Jalen Nailor is off to a great start this year for the Minnesota Vikings.

Nailor found the endzone again this week, scoring on a four-yard reception in a matchup between the Vikings and Houston Texans. Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold found Nailor in the endzone to push the Vikings’ lead to 21-0 in the third quarter.

Nailor’s touchdown on Sunday vs. the Texans was his third of the season. Nailor is in his third season in the NFL and he had only one career touchdown in his first two seasons in the league.

Nailor starred for the Spartans from 2018 to 2021 where he recorded 86 career receptions for 1,453 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Vikings.

Check out the touchdown highlight from Nailor in the video below:

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WATCH: Sam Darnold throws his third touchdown against the Texans

The Vikings new signal caller remains hot as he connects for his third TD of the day.

Sam Darnold found Justin Jefferson for a Minnesota score and then later on, Darnold connected with Aaron Jones for a Vikings’ touchdown.

Coming out of halftime, the Vikings got the ball first, and what do you know? Darnold helped lead Minnesota down the field and found Jalen Nailor for a four-yard touchdown, putting the Vikings up 21-0 early into the third quarter.

Darnold’s career-high is four touchdowns in a single game. The Vikings’ first-year gunslinger still has almost two full quarters to at least tie his career high.

Darnold is sitting at 152 yards and three scores through two quarters and one possession. Justin Jefferson has been his go-to target once again, hauling in six catches for 81 yards and a score. Nailor got hot on this past drive and is now at three catches for 31 yards and a touchdown.

The Vikings defense has also been great against the Texans. Not allowing any big chunk plays, keeping things in front of them, and getting pressure on CJ Stroud.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1837927947153363154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Watch Jalen Nailor haul in his second TD of season

Jalen Nailor had a nice game in the Minnesota Vikings win over the San Francisco 49ers

Jalen Nailor was a staple of Michigan State football’s offense from 2018-2021, showcasing his speed and playmaking abilities. Now in the NFL, Nailor has been able to show his playmaking ability with the Minnesota Vikings, where he is now entering into his third season with the team.

In the Vikings season opener against the New York Giants, Nailor made his impact felt with a 21-yard touchdown reception. In the second game for Minnesota, a huge win over San Francisco, Nailor hauled in his second touchdown in as many games.

In the Vikings win, Nailor caught 3 passes for 54 yards and this touchdown.

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WATCH: Vikings WR Jalen Nailor joins the action and catches TD

The Vikings got off to a hot start in the third quarter after Sam Darnold found Jalen Nailor for a score.

The Vikings got things going in the third quarter. Coming out of halftime with a 14-3 lead over the New York Giants, Sam Darnold and Minnesota went right down the field for a touchdown.

Aaron Jones had two runs of 10-plus yards and then Darnold continued his hot start by finding Jalen Nailor for a 21-yard touchdown. It was a great play design by head coach Kevin O’Connell. He used Justin Jefferson as a decoy on the far right side of the field. Darnold pump faked to Jefferson, the Giants’ defensive backs bit, and Darnold placed a perfect pass into Nailor’s arms.

The Giants then took the next possession down the field for a field goal. But the Vikings’ defense continues to play good football, keeping Daniel Jones uncomfortable in the pocket.

Sam Darnold doesn’t seem done either, though, so look for more posts the rest of the game, as we are sure this Vikings offense has more to do.

Watch Jalen Nailor secures first TD of 2024 season

Jalen Nailor’s first catch of 2024 was a 21-yard TD reception:

Jalen Nailor was a staple of the Michigan State offense from 2018-2021, showcasing his speed and playmaking abilities. Nailor has since been drafted in the NFL by the Minnesota Vikings, where he is now entering into his third season with the team.

In the Vikings season opener against the New York Giants, Nailor made his impact felt. His first catch of the season was a 21-yard touchdown reception from Sam Darnold.

Watch the touchdown via the Vikings on X:

https://twitter.com/Vikings/status/1832851830612558131

The Vikings will look to close out the game, and with an injury to Jordan Addison, Nailor is sure to play an increased role.

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Vikings are injury-free entering Week 1 against the Giants

There are no players on the Vikings’ injury report against the New York Giants.

Entering Week 1 against the New York Giants, the Minnesota Vikings are injury-free. There was some concern surrounding both Jordan Addison and Jalen Nailor and what their injury designations would be for New York. But both players are practicing and appear to be ready to roll on Sunday.

With Sam Darnold starting for the Vikings and likely operating as the starter for all of 2024, it’s important for Darnold to build chemistry with his starting receivers. Addison is slated to start alongside Justin Jefferson and with the camp and preseason Nailor had, he’s likely the No. 3 receiver on the team. Minnesota also has veterans Brandon Powell and Trent Sherfield who can provide valuable reps in case of injury.

Jefferson, Addison, and Nailor are all young receivers the Vikings could build around for the future. But health will be a key — especially for a player like Nailor who has battled injuries throughout his career. The Giants game will be a good look into exactly what the Vikings have with a guy like Nailor.