Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell heaps praise on young pass catcher

The Minnesota Vikings had many standouts from Saturday's 24-23 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. The first one was head coach Kevin O'Connell getting his first win in the preseason as the head coach of the Vikings. It was the franchise's first win in the preseason since 2019.

The second player you will mention is rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy . He lit up the Raiders defense for 188 passing yards and two touchdowns. Yes, he started out with an interception, but it's about how you finish more than how you start.

Jalen Nailor continues to wow vs. Raiders

Outside the head coach and quarterback, the biggest standout was on the outside. Nailor has thrived all offseason during training camp practices and that carried over to the game. He only caught three passes for 63 yards but looked explosive in getting open. Dig routes were his friend on Saturday and he took advantage.

O'Connell went out of his way to praise Nailor during his postgame press conference.

"Those of you guys who have been at training camp, seeing him make plays and see him show up. What did he have, three for 63, three explosives, that’s what he’s capable of. He really played X tonight in Justin Jefferson’s spot and he showed up, ran some really good routes, has a great way about him but also has some versatility and we’re going to continue to feed him and give him ops because we’ve always been excited about him. It’s just been an availability thing, and he stacks up really, really good weeks together now which needs to be expected as long as he can keep putting it together. I’m really proud of where he’s at but work, offseason and getting ready to go with a real laser focus on what he wants to accomplish this year."

O'Connell hit the nail on the head with Nailor: availability. Over the first two years, Nailor has been dealing with numerous injuries, including one that kept him out of nearly all of training camp last season. It stunted his growth and kept him from being a contributor.

That hasn't been the case this year as Nailor is starting to live up to his potential as an offensive weapon. If he continues to take the next step in his development, the 2022 NFL Draft class will start to look just a tad better.