Jalen Nailor’s breakout with the Vikings could make him a lot of money

Scant Vikings have been more consistent than receiver Jalen Nailor of late He caught a back shoulder to seal the win over the Detroit Lions then followed it up with the best showing of his career in Sunday s loss to the Baltimore Ravens Sometimes they re going to take away our best guy and the other guys have to step up stated Nailor who finished with five catches for yards and a touchdown It was me this day and I made the the majority of those opportunities Nailor breakout didn t surprise head coach Kevin O Connell when he was sought about it after the encounter nor did it surprise offensive coordinator Wes Phillips hours later I saw this type of performance coming from him Phillips commented It was a matter of him getting those opportunities and being in the right place regardless of the play or the progressions He s just a guy that consistently wins on tape We ve got a lot of guys that can do that and the ball unveiled him Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jalen Nailor pulls down a quarterback J J McCarthy pass in front of Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey for a yard catch in the first quarter of a NFL match at U S Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday Nov John Autey Pioneer Press There were a number of plays from Nailor that stood out He caught a deep pass from quarterback J J McCarthy on the opening possession then raced up the field for a -yard gain He later hauled in an intermediate crosser over the the middle for an -yard gain I ve announced it since Week that Speedy was going to show up for us McCarthy noted There are going to be a lot more games like that for Speedy That s a nickname Nailor has carried since he was a little kid He garnered the nickname in childhood because well he was reliably much faster than his peers It s stuck with him into adulthood because well that s still very much the situation The ability to separate from defenders played a role in Nailor being selected by the Vikings in the sixth round of the NFL Draft He s steadily carved out a niche for himself since then despite being taken in a later round Though he has never been a focal point for the Vikings with all the the other weapons they have on offense Nailor has earned the respect of his teammates by doing the dirty work behind the scenes He took pride in that part knowing if he continued to do developed his moment was eventually going to come That s exactly what happened for Nailor After making a splash in the early stages of the battle Nailor flashed again down the stretch keeping a drive alive with an acrobatic catch then toe tapping in the back of the end zone for a amount a meager plays later A heck of a catch O Connell disclosed I thought Speedy was huge for us really taking advantage of those opportunities The only challenge with Nailor balling out for the Vikings is that they bulk likely won t be able to keep him He is set to be a free agent in the offseason and should be in line for a considerable pay raise It s not out of the realm of possibility for Nailor to garner a deal that pays him somewhere near million per year when comparing his skill set to the rest of the realm Baltimore Ravens receiver Rashod Bateman s contract has an average annual value of million Atlanta Falcons receiver Darnell Mooney s contract has an average annual value of million and Buffalo Bills receiver Khalil Shakir s contract has an average annual value of million There s a chance Nailor s contract could clear those numbers if he continues to produce at a high level We re dependably confident in the guys in our room to make those plays when they get those opportunities star receiver Justin Jefferson disclosed I m very proud of him for coming up clutch and doing what we expect him to do Related Articles Mizutani Kevin O Connell can only do so much to help J J McCarthy succeed The highest and lowest PFF grades from the Vikings loss to the Ravens Takeaways from the Vikings - loss to the Ravens Frederick The J J McCarthy experience is going to get better right Why did the Vikings false start so much against the Ravens