Jarius Wright – Getty Images
Teddy Bridgewater made it clear who his best friend on the Minnesota Vikings is during his first career start at quarterback, and that player is Jarius Wright.
Wright has been Bridgewater’s No. 1 receiver on the secondary practice offense since training camp, and it was clear they’ve developed a chemistry together. Wright saw a team high ten targets on Sunday; no other Vikings receiver had more than four passes thrown their way. Prior to Sunday, Wright had only been targeted six times over three games.
Despite being a clear No. 3 on the Vikings’ depth chart, Wright caught eight balls for 132 yards against a less than spectacular Atlanta Falcons defense. In comparison, WR1 Greg Jennings caught three balls for 72 yards and WR2 Cordarrelle Patterson caught two for only 28 yards. Wright managed to put up these stellar numbers despite only playing in 53 percent of the offensive snaps.
Bridgewater left the game late with an ankle injury and is listed as questionable for this Thursday’s match up against the Green Bay Packers. An MRI yielded positive results, so he should be able to suit up. This is obviously great news for Wright.
Bridgewater and Wright will take on a relatively decent pass defense featuring Sam Shields and Tramon Williams at the cornerback position. As a team, Green Bay gives up about 214 passing yards per game, which places them in the top five best in that statistic. It’s a much bigger challenge than what he faced in Week 4. Atlanta ranks near the bottom in nearly every defensive category.
Wright’s career day definitely means Green Bay will be paying closer attention to him than they would have prior to his explosive afternoon. Don’t expect quite the numbers he put up against Atlanta, but as long as Bridgewater is hurling the pigskin, he’ll make sure he finds his good friend a few times. Pay close attention to Wright’s stat line. If he continues getting seven plus targets, he may be a valuable acquisition if available in your league.
Jarius Wright’s Week 5 Projection: five receptions, 77 yards, zero touchdowns.
Ryan Ball is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RyanBall89.
