A look back at 1st round Vikings WR selection Jordan Addison as a recruit
USC wide receiver Jordan Addison was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the No. 23 pick of the first round in the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday evening.
With the selection, USC continues its streak of having at least one player selected in every NFL draft since 1939. Addison is the 85th USC player to be selected in the first round of the draft and pick No. 520 overall for the Trojans.
As many USC fans know, Addison was not always pegged for the fortune of being a 1st round draft selection.
Starting his career at the University of Pittsburgh and finishing it as a Trojan, Addison ascended into stardom, earning the Biletnikoff Award along the way, signifying the nation’s best wide receiver. The process to get to walking across the stage in Kansas City last night was not an easy one for Addison.
We will take a look back at where Addison started his process coming out of high school and whether anyone in the industry saw this coming.
The rankings
On3 was not yet founded in 2020, so the three primary ranking services were 247Sports, Rivals, and ESPN.
On3 Director of Scouting and Rankings Charles Powers was then the head of rankings for 247Sports, and he and his team were able to see what many had not. Despite the lack of national programs in his recruitment, 247 ranked Addison as the No. 131 overall prospect and the No. 4 athlete in the nation. Because of Addison’s multi-faceted role in high school, 247 listed him as an athlete, not wide receiver.
The other sites were not nearly as high, evidenced by neither Rivals or ESPN giving him a national ranking. Rivals ranked Addison as the No. 86 wide receiver in the nation while ESPN had him at No. 57.
Offers for Addison out of HS
Addison was not the most popular prospect coming out of Frederick (Md.) Tuscarora in 2020. At the conclusion of his recruitment, Addison held a total of 12 offers. Those offers came from Pittsburgh, Maryland, East Carolina, James Madison, Kent State, Massachusetts, Notre Dame, Old Dominion, South Carolina, Temple, Virginia, and Wake Forest.
Charles Powers looking back
“We were sky high on Jordan Addison (and the 2020 Pitt class in general) as the only outlet to rank him as a four-star prospect,” Power wrote. “The credit goes to former colleague and current Vanderbilt GM Barton Simmons. While Addison was clearly a top athlete (10.85 100m), Barton saw some things in his game early on that colleges or other analysts didn’t. Addison was not as easy of a projection at wide receiver as some others due to the fact he played all over the field for his high school – also lining up at quarterback and defensive back. Addison was an instant hit at Pitt, quickly taking off as a freshman and winning the Biletnikoff Award as a sophomore before transferring to USC for his final season.”
