The Vikings' most explosive play on Sunday, a game in which they failed to gain even 300 yards while ceding almost 500 to the Jets, came on a reception by a player who only totaled two offensive snaps the entire game.
That same player was on the receiving end of the third-longest gain the previous week, again while playing just two offensive snaps, while a different player who has played just seven offensive snaps all season showed off his game-breaking speed in that game.
Player 1: Jalen Reagor, who hauled in a 38-yard catch on a Kirk Cousins underthrow in the second quarter against the Jets on the Vikings' second touchdown drive in an eventual 27-22 win. He caught a 25-yarder the week before against the Patriots.
Player 2: Kene Nwangwu, whose 97-yard kickoff return TD against the Patriots was one of the most important plays in the game.
Both players largely have been given a tight focus this year on special teams, with Reagor as the punt returner and Nwangwu as the kickoff returner.
But for a team that finds itself increasingly unable to put teams away — even while it keeps winning, as Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast — and which has been searching for consistent offensive playmakers outside of Justin Jefferson for much of the season, there is a case to be made for an increased offensive role for both players.
Reagor, who came over in a trade with the Eagles before the season, has played 40 offensive snaps all season. With that limited time he's managed six catches for 87 yards and a touchdown plus another two carries for 25 yards. That's 14 yards every time he's touched the ball, and a lot of production per snap.
The counter-argument, of course, is that Reagor didn't deliver huge dividends for the Eagles (64 combined catches in 2020 and 2021) when given a much bigger opportunity. The Vikings might even argue that Reagor's success this year is because he has been targeted in limited and advantageous matchups.
