By: Rob Kleifield
Don't be surprised the next time Jalen Nailor shines.
He's quiet as a mouse, but his actions speak volumes. He's dealt with injuries, but his patience has paid off. He's wising up and applying key lessons from important people in his life. He's strong, unselfish and bright.
And did we mention he's fast? Like really, really fast.
"He was introduced to me as 'Jalen Nailor a.k.a. Speedy,' " Michigan State wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins laughed over the phone as he remembered his first impression of the former Spartan. "I figured, like, this kid must be able to run. And that held true. I mean, he can flat out pick 'em up and put 'em down.
"He was a joy to coach because he's a big-time student of the game," Hawkins said. "Not overly talkative, but very engaged. He always asked smart questions, and he wanted to be great. He picked my brain."
Nailor has excelled in so many regards at the start of his third NFL season. None of it's surprising.
At least, not to anyone with a front-row view.
"I think he's starting to know who he is as a player, and it usually starts to happen around this time of your career. Just being a former player myself, understanding the game starts to slow down, you start to see stuff," Vikings wide receivers coach and two-time Pro Bowl WR Keenan McCardell imparted. "He's starting to understand how to play this game, and that's a big thing for people to make the next stride."
McCardell had two impressions of Nailor the first time he put on his tape.
"I said, 'God, he can play. He can really play.' And the next one was like, 'Where is he?' "
Nailor missed action in every college season except 2020 when the NCAA shortened schedules because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After dealing with more of the same in the NFL, Nailor has absorbed wisdom from McCardell's 17-year playing career – this level is all about accountability, durability and availability.
"Been doing a whole bunch of yoga, pilates," Nailor said. "That's been my main two things. Just trying to increase my mobility and flexibility and [learn] more about my body than I personally have in the past."
Nailor zoomed past external questions and buttressed internal belief during Minnesota's 5-0 takeoff.
Catching fire
His speed was the focus of a 31-yard reception on a third-and-14 in Week 4, reviving the first Vikings drive at Green Bay. Nailor released at the top of the numbers and deftly ran a deep mesh route underneath Jefferson. He separated from man coverage by sticking his left foot in the ground and hitting the burners.
Offensive Coordinator Wes Phillips called it a spark. The Vikings scored 28 points on their next 20 plays.
One game earlier against Houston, the 25-year-old receiver flashed strong hands in the end zone. Nailor ran a quick slant from the left slot – the backside of Sam Darnold's primary reads – and flew into vision of his surveying quarterback. Darnold zipped a leading pass, and Nailor secured a contested catch for six.
Wide receiver Jordan Addison said it's proof Nailor has been in the weight room. One of Nailor's teammates at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, Haskell Garrett, added that Nailor wore a "blue T-shirt" at Gorman, indicating he cleaned 200 pounds, bench pressed 225 and squatted 300.
"The way that we were coached when we were in high school, it was very blue-collar," Garrett said. "It's how we were all kind of bred. You bring your lunchpail and you go to work. That routine followed him."
Hawkins recalled how that continued in college.
"He always walked around with his freaking shirt off because he would go and pound the weights!" Hawkins exclaimed. "He's a workaholic, man. He works his tail off."
The score on the slant made Nailor and Justin Jefferson the first Vikings duo in history with a TD catch in each of the first three games of a season – and the first NFL pairing since Tampa Bay's Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in 2018.
"That's fire, that's fire," Jefferson smiled when he was asked what the joint milestone meant. "I mean, I feel prouder for Jalen than for me, of course. For his journey of getting to this place, to get a touchdown in [the] first three games, [it's big] for his career, [and] where he wants to go in his career."
Nailor added: "It's amazing knowing the history that's come through here with receivers."
McCardell knows firsthand the feeling of catching fire. "It's like nobody can cover you. You feel like every time you get an opportunity, you're going to make a big play," he said. "To be a great one in this league, you've got to have that feeling all the time, every day, even in practice. 'There's nothing that they can do to stop [me].' … He's starting to understand that he can do that. He's got that feeling, and I love it."
Nailor's jaunt to the end zone in the home opener was a result of his skill and gusto to block. In the second quarter, he thumped a 49ers safety into a spiral, springing running back Ty Chandler for a gain of 25. On a similar design in the third frame (with Nailor set up alone to the right in a tightened formation), San Francisco anticipated a run. The Niners' pre-snap conviction was exacerbated when Nailor condensed even more, shifting to a yard gap between tight end Josh Oliver and right tackle Brian O'Neill.
Garrett watched this sequence with coaches at Gorman's football office and noted Nailor's perfect route.
The receiver bluffed a stalk block and woosh! He blew by a bracing defensive back and snared a touch pass from Darnold. Garrett excitedly mentioned, "It's been fun to watch him flourish at the next level."
Mad dash
Nailor was such a difference-maker in Week 2 that, in hindsight, his touchdown felt secondary to him.
Everybody marveled at him straining, sprinting 20.3 miles per hour, to assist Jefferson on his epic 97-yard TD.
Garrett shared: "That's a part of Speedy's DNA – blocking downfield for the guy next to him."
"It's just mad," McCardell dished. "Everybody calls it extra effort. It's a super extra effort. A mad play is something that you do that nobody expects you to do. Nobody expected him to be 30 yards behind Justin and then go run over there and catch up and then help him [with a] block, so it's a mad play."
McCardell ripped two other mad plays off the top of his head: Jefferson's heaven-sent, one-handed catch at Buffalo on fourth-and-18 in 2022 and his equally ridiculous 2023 catch vs. the Lions on a third-and-27.
Coincidentally, mad could be used to abbreviate Making A Difference.
Garrett has witnessed Nailor's means to M.A.D. since his freshman year at Gorman.
"When he came in, his football IQ, his speed, and just his overall work ethic is what set him apart from those in his class and even those who were older than him, who were upperclassmen," Garrett said. "And I knew – when I was a senior and he was a junior – I knew he was going to play at a high level."
Garrett was right. He met Nailor, again, this time on opposite sidelines, and tried warning his Ohio State coaches and teammates in the secondary to keep an eye out for the player whose nickname fit snuggly.
"Our motto was to limit big plays," said Garrett, who appeared in 53 games on the Buckeyes defensive line and spent 2022 training camp with the Titans. "I made it imperative that the DBs be aware of Speedy because he's one of those guys that will run around and read the zone and sit in the cracks of the zone.
"There were times my pass rush had to be immaculate," Garrett added. "He would run these routes that were very quick, and I didn't have three or four seconds to get back there. It was very difficult."
Nailor's favorite play in Week 2 was the 26-yard catch he made between three San Francisco defenders on third-and-8 with about eight minutes left in the game. Why? Because "it just sealed the deal," he said.
It enabled Minnesota to milk the clock and Will Reichard to extend the lead to nine with 3:30 remaining.
"Everything he's doing, I expected. I'm not surprised by it at all," Hawkins said of Nailor's breakthrough. "I told him when I got [to MSU] that he had the tools to play on Sunday and that we just needed to work at getting in and out of routes, continue to play fast, to attack and play physical, and threaten guys."
Hawkins, a nine-year NFL veteran, has coached wide receivers at his alma mater since 2020. His mentorship influenced Nailor's strong play in 2020-21. Speedy led the Big Ten with 19.8 yards per catch their first year together and in the second flashed an NFL future against Rutgers, with a 5-221-3 stat line.
"He had a phenomenal game," Hawkins recalled. "You wouldn't have known it, though, because he just went about it the way that he does. He doesn't get too high with the highs or too low with the lows."
"I feel like Speedy has a lot of potential and a lot of talent and I feel like people [are] kind of getting to see that now this year," Jefferson added. "[He's that] quiet guy that's dynamic once he gets on the field."
Triple threats
Nailor's first touchdown of 2024 was a byproduct of simply playing in the same system as Jefferson.
On a first-and-10 at the doorstep of the Giants red area, Jets bubbled out of the backfield to the right. Nailor duped a couple cornerbacks with a fake-block-and-go up the sideline. Hello, wide-open end zone!
It was a sparkling piece of evidence that supports what Phillips – and undoubtedly others – believe.
"There's a lot of great groups of three," said Phillips, referring to the Jefferson-Addison-Nailor trio. "There's no disrespect anywhere in this league, but I think we have one of the top groups in the NFL."
Nailor has surpassed his offensive snap count from 2022-23 by 34 in the first five games this year. He's second on the Vikings in touchdowns (3), tripling the number of scores he had entering 2024, and is on the other end of the team's top passer rating when targeted (Nailor: 154.2; Jefferson: 127.1; Addison: 81.0).
There's no pause or astonishment from coaches or teammates (or opponents) past and present privy to his game. The 191st pick of the 2022 NFL Draft is on a mad dash to prove others – and himself – right.
"Absolutely," Nailor said he envisioned this success.
"I'm just thankful to have my teammates and my coaches to help give me that extra confidence when I'm out there healthy, making plays," he added. "It means the most to me knowing I have that trust in them."
The wide respect for Nailor is based on a range of special moments.
He led Michigan State's offense in receiving yards in the 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The Spartans scored 21 unanswered in the fourth quarter to topple Pittsburgh – and its leading receiver Addison.
"I knew he would be a pro guy that would be making plays," Addison stated. "Definitely."
Nailor cited a conversation with Jefferson in OTAs last year as some of the best advice he's received.
"It's just always about being yourself," said Jefferson, spelling out what he told Speedy. "You're here for a reason. You're not here to imitate a certain type of player or be someone you're not, you're here because of who you are and who you came to be. It's all about having that confidence in yourself."
For Nailor, that's trusting his speed, hustling to help teammates and taking advantage of opportunities. It's moving fast – reacting instead of thinking – taking care of his body and letting his play do the talking.
"This league is impatient with players, just in general, especially drafted players," Phillips said. "There's a sense that they have to be something. But if a guy plays for 10 years in this league – and maybe he's not an All-Pro, but he had a damn good career – is that worth that pick? That's what everyone's trying to look at once we [got] him here. I don't care what pick [he was] or what round.
"I'm glad we have Speedy," Phillips asserted. "He's shown what we all thought he was going to be."
