Jordan Addison is picking up some momentum to the New Orleans Saints in the latest round of 2023 NFL mock drafts. The USC Trojans wide receiver started his college career with the Pitt Panthers, where he was one of the nation’s leading receivers in 2021, helping boost Kenny Pickett’s draft stock into the first round.
“His route-running was crisp,” one coach told The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, who projected Addison to the Saints at No. 29 overall in his recent mock draft. “I think he’s a heady guy who really knows how to read coverage.”
His numbers in 2021 were impressive. Addison caught 69.4% of his targets at an average depth of target at 12.4 yards, including a contested catch rate of 55.6%. He totaled 1,593 yards with 17 touchdown receptions and converted a first down on 65 of his 100 catches that year.
Then he transferred to USC in 2022, where his numbers took a hit in head coach Lincoln Riley’s offense. Addison finished the 2022 season with just 59 receptions for 875 yards and 8 touchdown catches, converting a first down on 64.4% of his completions. He was targeted at a lower average depth (10.7 yards) and only caught 2 of his 9 contested targets.
One of Feldman’s sources complimented Addison’s routes and ability to separate from coverage, but said of his time at USC, “I think the Air Raid kind of hurt him. It’s a different route tree, where you’re really throwing the ball in space. He is frail, so light. I think if you get in his face and not let him get a free release, he will have some problems. He’s more about acceleration and stepping on your toes and good separation at the top of route. I don’t think he’ll be a No. 1 wide receiver in the NFL. Can he take the pounding? I think he needs to work on his body.”
Another anonymous coach echoed those concerns about his size: “I really liked him. He’s really, really smooth, but he is very thin. He has really good change of direction, but I do think he lacks play strength.”
Addison weighed in at just 5-foot-11 and 171 pounds, with 30.9-inch arms. And he didn’t do very well in timing drills at the NFL scouting combine or USC’s rain-drenched pro day, running the 40-yard dash in 4.49 seconds and clocking the three-cone drill in 7.05 seconds. It’s hardly the athletic profile of a first-round receiver prospect.
But the Saints take a unique approach to evaluating receivers. Back in 2021, then-head coach Sean Payton said that the 6-flat, 166-pound DeVonta Smith was their highest-ranked prospect at the position in that year’s draft: “He’s an exception route runner. His transition speed, I mean his pro day was impressive, then you just have to put the tape on. He was our top receiver by far. You just had to watch the tape. But he’s someone I felt was explosive off the ball, transitioned well for someone his height. It’s been a good pick (for the Eagles).”
Many of those qualities could just as easily be attributed to Addison, so it shouldn’t shock anyone if the Saints like him a lot despite his pedestrian testing numbers. He wasn’t a player who won with elite athleticism in college anyway. The Saints aren’t as strict in their athletic prototypes at wide receiver as other positions. Since 2018, they’ve fielded three receivers who were both sub-180 pounds with arms measuring under 31 inches: Ted Ginn Jr., Deonte Harty, and Tommylee Lewis. Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Jarvis Landry, Ty Montgomery, Kenny Stills, and Austin Carr all had similar wingspans. We’ll see if Addison is someone they like in this year’s draft, or whether he even makes it to their pick, but it’s clear he has a lot of fans.
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