Following the Vikings’ loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday, there was a lot of talking about the negatives, but there was also some talking about the positives that came from the game.
A couple of the biggest positives to come out of the Vikings’ loss was the dynamic duo that was Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
Jefferson totaled 9 receptions for 150 yards, while Addison had 4 receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown reception of 39 yards.
With both receivers showing out in the loss, it might be fair to say that the future is bright at wide receiver for the Vikings. However, while both Jefferson and Addison had great games, the Vikings WR2 KJ Osborn was relatively quiet. Osborn totaled 3 receptions for 31 yards in the loss.
Since the beginning of training camp, the Vikings have been hyping up the trio of Jefferson, Addison and Osborn, calling them ‘Three Deep 2.0’, paying homage to the original Three Deep trio of Randy Moss, Cris Carter, and Jake Reed from the late 90s, early 2000s.
With all the promotion the Vikings did surrounding the WR trio, the stats put up by Osborn seem quite disappointing for someone that’s supposed to be a part of the next ‘Three Deep’.
Considering that Osborn has shown great potential in the past, it wouldn’t be surprising if he has great games later down the line. When a team has three wide receivers that have great potential and talent, it’s hard to distribute the ball evenly every game.
There are multiple scenarios that can play out in a situation like this:
1. 2 receivers get the ball consistently, and the receiver that isn’t being fed gets upset and might want out or more playing time.
2. All 3 receivers get equal attempts at the ball but put up lackluster numbers because of the distribution.
3. Each game gives a different receiver or multiple receivers to show out, equally distributing the ball throughout the season rather than during one single game.
With these scenarios, #3 seems the most practical for the Vikings, as the Vikings don’t want to lose any of these receivers, and with the talent and potential that each of them holds, giving each of them equal attempts per game would just hurt their numbers.
Vikings fans shouldn’t get discouraged by the performance KJ Osborn put up on Sunday, as each one of the starting three receivers will get their opportunities throughout the season. ‘Three Deep 2.0’, will take time to develop, and that’s just how the NFL works. The original Three-Deep didn’t work immediately, and it ended up being one of the most dominant wide receiver cores of all time.
