EAGAN, Minn. — Receiver Adam Thielen started every game he played for the Minnesota Vikings over the past six seasons.
In March, the Vikings released him.
Since then, the team has added only one receiver to its roster: Journeyman Brandon Powell, who has started eight games for three teams over the past five seasons.
Those factors lead to a reasonable conclusion: It’s veteran K.J. Osborn‘s turn to move into a full-time starting role after playing two seasons as their No. 3 receiver.
Osborn, for one, agrees.
“I do, if I’m being completely honest with you” Osborn said this week at the start of the Vikings’ offseason program. “I know it’s an opportunity. I know there’s stuff ahead. We could still bring guys on and things like that, but at least I can say I’m excited about the opportunity.”
There is another reasonable explanation for the Vikings’ relative lack of activity behind Thielen’s release. As Osborn alluded to, the Vikings could be waiting to see if they can draft an impact receiver later this month.
That idea has coursed freely through pre-draft discussions around the league. ESPN’s Draft Predictor tool — which uses Scouts Inc. player grades, mock drafts and team needs to create a consensus — projects USC receiver Jordan Addison as the most likely player the Vikings will draft if they keep their spot at No. 23 overall. Although the 2023 receiver class doesn’t have classic star power, there is a good chance that three of them — Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Boston College’s Zay Flowers and Addison — will go in the first round.
The Vikings could have grabbed a high-ceiling replacement for Thielen during the 2022 draft, even if it would have been a luxury pick. But instead of selecting Alabama receiver Jameson Williams at No. 12 overall, and letting him recover from a torn left ACL during Thielen’s final season in Minnesota, they traded the pick to the Detroit Lions and used the extra picks to add depth to their defense.
Thielen’s departure makes the addition of an upper-tier receiver less of a luxury in 2023. This offseason, the Vikings have talked up 2022 sixth-round pick Jalen Nailor, who played only 59 offensive snaps last year but made a strong impression by the end of the season. Veteran Jalen Reagor remains on the roster as well.
But Nailor, Reagor and Powell would seem candidates to fill the No. 3 role at best. Those following closely could see the Vikings initiating a transition from Thielen to Osborn toward the end of last season.
Over the final five games of the regular season, Osborn had more receiving yards (388) than any Vikings player other than Justin Jefferson. He tied with tight end T.J. Hockenson for the second-most receptions (30) and matched Thielen’s team-leading three touchdown receptions.
And while he technically was the Vikings’ No. 3 receiver behind Jefferson and Thielen the past two seasons, Osborn has seen starter-level action. He ran 1,056 routes over the 34 regular-season games during that period, the 14th-most of any receiver in the NFL.
“I tried to do my job, stay patient and my time came at the end of the season,” he said. “I found a rhythm there. … My goal is to start that earlier [in 2023].”
Osborn and Jefferson are both products of the Vikings’ 2020 draft class. Jefferson was the No. 22 overall selection, while Osborn went in the fifth round. He didn’t get a single offensive snap as a rookie, as the Vikings tried him as a punt and kickoff returner, but he caught quarterback Kirk Cousins‘ eye during offseason workouts and then again early in the 2021 season.
“What was funny was [in 2021] he showed up in a lot of our two-minute stuff,” Cousins said last year, “because in two-minute we weren’t formulating the plays to get the ball to Adam and Justin as much. It was just base formations and trying to run fast, and so K.J. started showing up a lot. I was saying to the coaches that we might want to get him more involved in the first- and second-down game plan and throughout the whole game, because in two minute he makes plays for us.”
Osborn produced similar seasons in 2021 and 2022, getting nine starts apiece in the three-receiver set. In total, he caught 110 passes for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns over those 34 games. It was a pace he has found both comfort and confidence based on the rest of his football career.
Osborn told the story in brief this week. As a youth football player, he was relegated to second-team running back. He redshirted as a freshman at Buffalo in 2015 — “I’m like, ‘What the heck?’ he said — and didn’t get on the field the following season until the team’s top two slot receivers and top two punt returners were both injured.
So when the Vikings’ offseason program began Monday, Osborn said he woke up “almost like emotional” given where it appears he has arrived.
“This has kind of been my career,” he said. “That’s been my path. Kind of, wait my turn, grind it out. But that gives me a sense of appreciation when I do get in these roles, and I’m excited about this new role. Those are things that I needed.”
