The 25 most interesting Vikings at training camp (20-16)

Photo courtesy Minnesota Vikings

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By Matthew Coller

With less than a month until Vikings training camp, we are counting down the 25 most interesting players to watch at camp this year. Here are the first five on the list. Here are numbers 20-16:

20 — WR Jalen Nailor

For two years, head coach Kevin O’Connell expressed his belief in Nailor as a weapon alongside Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. In 2024, he justified KOC’s compliments about his talent by catching 28 passes for 414 yards and six touchdowns. In particular he stepped up early in the season when Addison was dealing with ankle injuries and grabbed three TDs in the first three weeks.

The middle of the season was sparce with targets for Nailor though. Between Week 9 and Week 16, he did not have a multi-catch game. In Week 16, he broke out with five receptions for 81 yards against the Packers, showing he could make opponents pay for overcommitting to WR1 and WR2.

Heading into a contract year, Nailor was noticeably more muscular at OTAs and training camp and looked locked into the WR3 role despite the team adding another receiver in the draft. If the former sixth-rounder can gain quick chemistry with JJ McCarthy, he could end up being someone that the young QB leans on throughout the season.

Will we see signs of another step for Nailor during training camp? Will he form a connection with McCarthy from the jump? The attention will be focused on how he’s looking with Jefferson and Addison over the summer but if Nailor becomes a more consistent weapon for the Vikings offense then there could be another gear that few teams ever reach.

19 — OLB Gabriel Murphy

The first impression of Murphy in 2024 camp was very good. At one point he was being eyed as the next great UDFA find for the Vikings. But he got banged up in training camp and didn’t surface in an actual game until Week 14 against Atlanta. He played 28 snaps versus the Falcons, registered one QB hit and made one run stop and then only saw seven snaps over the rest of the season.

Murphy was highly productive in college at UCLA, racking up 8.0 sacks and 61 QB pressures in 2023. Will he carry over that production to the NFL when given an opportunity? It appears the Vikings want to give him a legitimate shot to become a rotational player because they did not sign a veteran rotational edge. That means that Murphy, Bo Richter and anybody else in the outside linebacker will be able to take their shot at being OLB4 behind Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner.

It’s difficult to put odds on Murphy’s chances at working his way into Next Man Up status because his actual playing time came in such a small sample last season but he is bigger than a typical OLB at 260 pounds and may bring more of an inside rush element to the mix.