Minnesota

Vikings

According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, Jefferson said, “the plan is definitely to play Sunday, but who knows?” Overall, we take this as a net positive, but the Vikings’ No. 1 wide receiver is still clearly rehabbing his ankle injury. For now, we tentatively expect him to be active this week.

O’Connell also said that RT Brian O’Neill (undisclosed) will be limited. The Vikings recently placed LG Donovan Jackson (knee) on injured reserve. The offensive line is very banged up at the moment.

According to O’Connell, Addison has “a little hamstring soreness,” though it is “considered minor.” Keep an eye on this. Hamstring injuries can quickly become problematic at the wide receiver position. If active and practicing fully by the end of the week, Addison will be a WR3/FLEX against the Saints.

This is a good sign. Jefferson is tentatively on track to play in Week 5 against the Saints. Ideally, he will upgrade to full participation tomorrow, though. O’Connell told reporters last week that his No. 1 wide receiver had made “great progress” in his rehab program. That indeed appears to be the case. He will be a WR1 if active.

Beckham, 33, was released by the Giants last week after getting almost no playing time in the season’s first few games. In Minnesota he will reunite with Kevin O’Connell, who worked with OBJ during his stint with the Rams. With Justin Jefferson (ankle) sidelined last week, Jordan Addison led Minnesota wideouts with 39 percent of the team’s air yards and 16 percent of the targets. Jauan Jennings, meanwhile, had one target while running 95 percent of the team’s routes. Beckham could operate as the team’s WR2 while Jefferson is sidelined. In the Vikings’ ultra run-heavy offense, that probably won’t matter for fantasy purposes.

He’ll undergo surgery. Jackson had a 59.4 PFF blocking grade as a rookie and had raised that to 61 in his sophomore season. 2025 UDFA Joe Huber took over at guard for Jackson in last week’s win over the Dolphins and will presumably start going forward.

Reichard made two field goals in the 40-49-yard range, and another from 50 yards. The Vikings were unable to score a touchdown today, though the offense began to figure things out late in the game. Reichard is a K1 candidate against the Saints next week.

Claiborne was given chances to contribute on the Vikings’ seventh and 10th drives. The rookie was unable to maximize his touches and had a catch behind the line of scrimmage that he took back to the line, negated by a holding penalty. Claiborne’s best play was an eight-yard run off the right tackle. That said, he out-touched DeeJay Dallas, who bagged only a 10-yard checkdown on the opening drive.

Jones was an offensive focal point for the Vikings today, consistently churning out moderate ground gains with a few decently long runs sprinkled in. He had a four-yard run called back by a penalty and lost out on a likely double-digit receiving gain on a route out of the backfield because Kyler Murray’s throw was late and low. A Dolphins defender managed to punch the ball out of Jones’ possession at one point, but it bounced out of bounds, preserving Jones’ fantasy box score. The Vikings’ offensive line health is worth monitoring heading into Week 5, but these types of workloads keep him locked firmly in the reliable RB2 tier. Treat him accordingly against the Saints next week.

With just over two minutes left in the game, Hockenson took a knee at the Dolphins’ five-yard line, allowing Kyler Murray to seal the game with a trio of kneel-downs after that. Although Hockenson surrendered the touchdown, he still delivered a TE1-worthy stat line on the day. The veteran tight end served as Murray’s go-to receiver, regularly nabbing passes on short-to-intermediate slants and curls. Hockenson mostly dove forward for a couple of extra yards after catching passes, but he did manage to drag a defender on a 14-yard gain early in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins’ pass rush was very effective today, and Murray seemed to hone in on Hockenson as his primary pressure fix as the game progressed. Hockenson will be a borderline TE1/2 against the Saints in Week 5.