Jordan Addison - WR - USC
Right after winning the Biletnikoff Award for the best wide receiver in college football, Addison went on to be a headliner for the first major transfer portal offseason in college football. Addison made his move from Pitt to USC to team up with fellow star transfer from the transfer portal offseason, quarterback Caleb Williams. While Addison’s stats took a bit of a dip from his excellent 2021 season, he proved he could produce on the big stage and compete against the higher-end competition.
Measurables
Height: 5′ 11″
Weight: 173 lbs
Age: 21
40-yard dash: 4.49s
3-cone drill: DNP
20-yard shuttle: DNP
Vertical Jump: 34″
Broad Jump: 10-2
Bench Press: DNP
*age is at the start of player’s rookie year
College Stats
| Receiving | Rushing | Scrimmage | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2020 | Pitt | ACC | FR | WR | 10 | 60 | 666 | 11.1 | 4 | 9 | 58 | 6.4 | 0 | 69 | 724 | 10.5 | 4 |
| *2021 | Pitt | ACC | SO | WR | 14 | 100 | 1593 | 15.9 | 17 | 7 | 56 | 8.0 | 1 | 107 | 1649 | 15.4 | 18 |
| *2022 | USC | Pac-12 | JR | WR | 11 | 59 | 875 | 14.8 | 8 | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 0 | 63 | 908 | 14.4 | 8 |
| Career | Overall | 219 | 3134 | 14.3 | 29 | 20 | 147 | 7.4 | 1 | 239 | 3281 | 13.7 | 30 | ||||
| Pitt | 160 | 2259 | 14.1 | 21 | 16 | 114 | 7.1 | 1 | 176 | 2373 | 13.5 | 22 | |||||
| USC | 59 | 875 | 14.8 | 8 | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 0 | 63 | 908 | 14.4 | 8 | |||||
Notable Headlines
Jordan Addison actually came out of high school designated as a 4-star athlete recruit. He signed with the Pittsburgh Panthers as a wide receiver and was immediately a force on the team. Current NFL quarterback, Kenny Pickett, was the quarterback for Addison’s freshman year as he led the team in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. He was officially on people’s radar, and he followed up his impressive freshman season with an even better sophomore season. His rapport with Kenny Pickett grew and Addison dominated the receiving game with 100 receptions, 1,593 receiving yards, and 17 touchdowns, all career highs. The team went 11-3 and won an ACC Championship and Addison was awarded the Biletnikoff Award (most outstanding receiver in college football), Consensus All-American, and First-team All-ACC.
After having an incredible season with the Panthers, Addison decided it was time to take his talents elsewhere and look to compete at a higher level. This was the first big year of the transfer portal and USC truly rebuilt and turned around the program through the portal thanks to both Jordan Addison and star quarterback Caleb Williams who transferred from Oklahoma. The USC team turned around under head coach Lincoln Riley’s first season at USC from a 4-8 record to 11-3, one game away from making the College Football Playoffs. Addison continued to lead his team in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, but he did take a step back from his excellent 2021 season. This is most likely due to the target competition as he was surrounded by wide receivers like Tahj Washington and Mario Williams, as well as the fact that Addison faced some injuries throughout the season and played in 3 fewer games. He was still awarded First-team All-Pac-12 honors and went on to declare for the NFL Draft as a true junior.
Scouting Report
Positives
Addison showed how well he is as an all-around receiver in college, playing both in the slot and on the outside. He was more effective in his time in the slot, as in 2021 during his best season, he played a majority of his snaps inside. While he has room to improve as a route runner, he was more than capable and showed glimpses of nuanced route-running techniques like utilizing leverage and stacking defensive backs. He also showed reliable hands and was able to attack all levels of the field effectively.
He’s a good yards after the catch player with a lot of schemed touches that went his way. He had a knack for picking up first downs by showing elusiveness in the open field and following his blockers effectively. He has decent open-field speed to create explosive plays but will get caught by faster defensive backs on the field.
Negatives
While Addison displayed reliable hands on tape, he had a few too many body catches that could come back to haunt him if he doesn’t clean that up. At the next level, defensive backs will be on him a lot tighter and be able to knock those out more consistently. On that same note, there were tougher catches that would have been nice to see him come down with, just to add to his already impressive tape. He profiles as more of a pure slot receiver at the next level due to his size and his vulnerability to getting jammed up within his routes by more physical defensive backs.
It would be good to see more consistency in his route running as he looked to be sluggish in and out of his breaks at times. And he needs to consistently use the bag of tricks he showed flashes of throughout his collegiate career to get open. While he is a good yards after the catch player, he needs to pick up plus yardage (more than what’s just blocked for him) on a more consistent basis.
Pre Draft Analysis
Expected Draft Capital- Late Round 1/Early Round 2
Landing Spots
While Addison’s combine didn’t do him a whole lot of favors, he’s still a player that has demonstrated on tape that he can attack all the levels of the field effectively. There aren’t too many receivers that are under 190 lbs that didn’t run a sub 4.40s 40 that have been drafted in the first round. The NFL is looking for players, if that small, to also bring a speed facet to their game that Addison failed to show at the combine. Before the combine and going strictly off the tape and what Addison showed on the field, he seemed to be a lock for the first round. And we’ve seen a lot of outlier wide receivers hit recently as the NFL game is shifting (see Devonta Smith and the BMI talks, and Jaylen Waddle with the size talks).
The New York Giants are in desperate need to add talent to their wide receiver core as the lack of weapons for Daniel Jones last year was evident. Addison would be a great fit and a reliable target for Jones and would pair well with just about any wide receiver they’re likely to also add via free agency. If he falls out of the first round, he would be a gift to the Houston Texans who are also in desperate need of a wide receiver to pair with their assumed rookie quarterback at the top of the draft. While Addison profiles more as a very good WR2 in an offense, he could hold down that receiving core until they bring in a true alpha WR1. And maybe he surprises and develops such a good rapport with their rookie quarterback that he transcends the WR2 mold and is a staple of the Texans’ offense for years to come.
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Image Credit: Charles LeClaire – USA TODAY Sports
