Underwhelming Tai Felton Provides Big Opportunity for Undrafted Vikings Rookie in Week 1

The Minnesota Vikings made plenty of moves over the offseason, but one overlooked area was their depth at receiver. The looming suspension of Jordan Addison meant the Vikings needed another pass catcher for the first month of the season, and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah tried to go young by selecting Tai Felton in the third round of the NFL Draft.

Felton hasn’t done much since, looking like the type of player that’s a year away from being a year away during training camp. The Vikings even had to reunite with Adam Thielen when Felton and veteran receiver Jalen Nailor couldn’t make Kevin O’Connell feel comfortable enough with what he had during Addison’s three-game suspension.

There was a chance to salvage some of the momentum when Felton was listed as the team’s kick returner on the unofficial depth chart at the beginning of the week. But with the opener against the Chicago Bears getting closer, his ability to disappoint opened the door for undrafted rookie Myles Price.

Myles Price Listed as Kick and Punt Returner Ahead of Vikings Opener vs. Bears

Price was listed as the punt returner on the team’s depth chart at the beginning of the week, but he was also listed as the starting kick returner in an update on Friday morning. According to the update, Price will team with Ty Chandler on the kick return, with Felton listed as the third string, and it represents a major opportunity for the Indiana product to stick around well past Monday night’s opener.

The 23-year-old didn’t put up eye-popping stats in college, making 199 catches for 2,217 yards and 13 touchdowns in four seasons at Texas Tech and one season at Indiana. But he was a wild card to return punts after averaging 13.9 yards on 42 returns over the past five years. He wound up winning the job over fellow UDFA Silas Bolden with 36 yards on three returns during the preseason and impressed on his lone kick return attempt with an 81-yard return in the Vikings’ second preseason game against the New England Patriots.

The impressive preseason was enough to send Bolden to the Houston Texans’ practice squad and gives Price a favorable matchup on Monday night. Chicago allowed the 12th-highest average on punt returns at 10.3 yards last season and was 17th in kick return average at 27.5 yards. Although Chicago did tie for 10th with a 74.7 special teams grade during the preseason 

While this is great for Price, it has repercussions for Felton. He was considered a project when the Vikings took him in April’s draft, but Minnesota had to feel like he’d be further along than he is at this point. The unofficial depth chart also lists Felton along with Price as the third string receiver, and he could get pushed further down the totem pole when Addison returns from his suspension in a Week 4 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Ireland.

It creates an already uncertain future for one of the Vikings' draft picks and a massive opportunity for a UDFA to run away with the job on Monday night.

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