The Las Vegas Raiders’ roster needed some talent at wide receiver heading into the offseason, leading the Raiders to sign Jalen Nailor from the Minnesota Vikings to a three-year, $35 million contract during free agency.
On paper, this seems like an overpay by Las Vegas since the four-year pro has just 69 catches for 1,066 yards and 11 touchdowns in his career. However, he was competing for targets with four-time All-Pro Justin Jefferson in Minnesota, and Nailor can add some versatility to the Raiders’ receiving corps. According to Pro Football Focus, 52.2 percent of the 2022 sixth-round pick’s career pass snaps have come as a slot receiver and 47.4 percent have been on the perimeter.
Advertisement
While the numbers help paint the picture, let’s flip on the tape to get a better look at what Nailor can bring to Las Vegas.
Likely part of the reason head coach Klint Kubiak is interested in Nailor is that the wideout has experience playing in an offense similar to his, spending the last four years with Kevin O’Connell, who also stems from Kyle Shanahan’s coaching tree. Kubiak’s scheme is very similar to O’Connell’s and features a lot of motion and switch releases like the play seen above.
Here, Nailor executes a “cheat” motion, meaning he’s moving parallel to the line of scrimmage to help get a running start into his route and turning upfield when the ball is snapped. That puts pressure on the cornerback, and Nailor does a good job of capitalizing by leaning into the corner before breaking on the comeback route to create some separation.
Advertisement
On top of that, Nailor shows off his impressive hands by digging out a low pass. That’s one area where he showed significant improvement from 2024 to 2025, going from four drops and a 12.5 percent drop rate to one and 3.3 percent, per PFF.
We’ll get another look at a switch release on the play above, as the Vikings run a rub route to help beat man coverage. Nailor does a good job of disguising the play design by foot-firing and pushing vertical off the line of scrimmage, setting up the pick by the outside receiver on the slot corner. That forces the corner to go from being on top of the route to playing from a trail position.
Additionally, Nailor kicks it into second gear to win deep on the vertical route, makes a nice over-the-shoulder catch and breaks a tackle after the catch to create an explosive play.
Advertisement
The Michigan State product doesn’t have overwhelming speed, clocking a 4.50-second 40-yard dash at the combine four years ago, but he can win down the field. Last season, he was targeted nine times on deep passes and recorded five catches for 159 yards and a touchdown to earn the seventh-best receiving grade (99.3) among wide receivers with at least six targets 20 or more yards past the line of scrimmage, per PFF.
This time, Minnesota throws a wrinkle at the Dallas Cowboys by faking the switch release. That just means the inside receiver comes off the line of scrimmage and initially starts working outside/toward the sideline but ends up running an in-breaking route to the middle of the field, and vice versa for the outside receiver.
Nailor sells the concept well by releasing inside initially and attacking the nickel corner. That holds the corner between the numbers and the hashmarks and gets him on his heels. As a result, there’s plenty of space toward the sideline and the wideout snaps off the out route to be wide open for an easy touchdown.
Advertisement
This is a good example of how Kubiak can add a tendency breaker to his playbook and use the free-agent signing to execute it.
Moving on from the switch releases, pylon routes are also a big part of the Shanahan tree’s playbook, and this is a good one from Nailor.
He’s facing physical coverage with the cornerback trying to get hands on him within the five-yard window. However, Nailor recognizes that and dips his outside shoulder, giving the corner less surface area to make contact with and preventing the corner from landing a clean punch on him. That allows the receiver to continue the route relatively unimpeded and win down the field.
Advertisement
Additionally, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound receiver makes a nice catch through contact for the touchdown. While he doesn’t have the size to be a threat on 50/50 balls consistently, he can make catches in traffic, hauling in nine contested grabs on 12 opportunities last season, per PFF.
Finally, we’ll wrap up with one more example of Nailor hauling in a deep contested catch.
Granted, he doesn’t beat press coverage off the line of scrimmage, as the corner gets hands on him and disrupts the timing of the route at first. But this is a double-move (pump six route), where the wideout turns up the field for a fade route after running a curl initially. That’s where his speed comes into play, as Nailor wins deep again. Additionally, this is a great adjustment to a back shoulder throw to make another catch in traffic.
Is the former Viking going to become the “No. 1 receiver” that is currently missing from the Raiders’ roster? No. But he is a quality pass-catcher who can be more productive than he’s been in the past with a bigger opportunity in Las Vegas moving forward. Plus, it helps that he has experience in a similar offense and is a great fit for the concepts that Kubiak likes to run.
Read the full article here
