![\"Jalen](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/jalen-nailor-minnesota-vikings.jpg\")
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(Photo by Stacy Revere\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Minnesota Vikings<\/a> have yet to fill that third wide receiver role on the depth chart. With the NFL<\/a> Draft approaching on April 23, the Vikings could use one of their picks on a player who can fill that role at a non-expensive price instead of pursuing a veteran. <\/p>\n Minnesota holds the No. 18 pick on Day 1 of the draft, and could they decide that going with a receiver might be too much to pass up? The Vikings have Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, but beyond them, there\u2019s not much depth. <\/p>\n Furthermore, the Vikings have a decision to make soon about whether to sign Addison to a long-term contract. As a result, if one of the top wideouts is there at 18, do the Vikings pass up an opportunity to take him?<\/p>\n On April 10, NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that he expects former USC Trojans<\/a> wideout Makai Lemon to be taken in the 16 to 18 range of the first round. <\/p>\n \u201cMy best guess here is that two receivers go in the Top 15,\u201d Rapoport said during his appearance on \u201cThe Insiders.\u201d <\/a>\u201cThen the third receiver, who, at this point, I would say there\u2019s a pretty decent chance is Makai Lemon from USC, ends up being the third receiver.<\/p>\n \u201cI know a lot of teams like him. A lot of teams compare him to Amon-Ra St. Brown. I would expect him to go probably just after 15. So after 15 is 16, and then after that, 17, 18. That is a pretty good spot potentially for Makai Lemon.\u201d<\/p>\n Why Makai Lemon Could Be Avaliable at No. 18?<\/p>\n Moreover, the reason why Rapoport believes one of the top receiving prospects could fall outside the Top 15 is due to teams having other needs outside of a receiver. <\/p>\n \u201cMy read right now is two receivers go in the top 15, which is not saying anything about the quality of the receivers,\u201c Rapoport noted. \u201cIt more says that teams are going to need tackles and maybe a guard, and a bunch of edges, and maybe a corner, certainly a corner. There\u2019s just not enough room for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps the Vikings don\u2019t take Lemon if he\u2019s there when they select at No. 18, but they could entertain trading back for a team that wants the receiver, especially if Minnesota wants to draft someone that might be a reach at their draft position.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Could the Vikings Go the Veteran Route to Find a WR3?<\/p>\n Nonetheless, the Vikings could decide that they want a proven veteran to replace Nailor as the team\u2019s WR3. For CBS Sports\u2019 Garrett Podell, he predicts Minnesota will go for a familiar face in Stefon Diggs, who played last season with the New England Patriots<\/a>, to fill the wideout role behind Jefferson and Addison, should the veteran wide receiver resolve his legal trouble.<\/p>\n \u201cDiggs\u2019 legal trouble is likely why he remains available,\u201c\u00a0Podell wrote in his CBS Sports article published on April 3<\/a>. \u201cHe\u00a0pleaded not guilty<\/a>\u00a0to felony strangulation and other criminal charges following an alleged assault of his personal chef. Diggs\u2019 attorney, Mitchell Schuster, claims his client is \u2018completely innocent.\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf Diggs\u2019 legal process is resolved, a homecoming to the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings makes plenty of sense.\u00a0Jalen Nailor\u00a0departed for the\u00a0Las Vegas Raiders\u00a0in free agency, so there\u2019s an opening at Minnesota\u2019s WR3 spot after 2022\u00a0NFL\u00a0Offensive Player of the Year\u00a0Justin Jefferson\u00a0and former first-round pick\u00a0Jordan Addison.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Vikings\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Stacy Revere\/Getty Images) The Minnesota Vikings have yet to fill that third wide receiver role…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":864230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-864229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-minnesotavikings","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116387997679283249","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}