Laquon Treadwell gives Teddy Bridgewater big target

Laquon Treadwell was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings with the #23 overall pick.

The suspense is over and the debate can end. Thursday night, the Minnesota Vikings finally made their selection.

With the #23 pick in the draft, the Vikings took WR Laquon Treadwell of Ole Miss.

The Vikings selected Treadwell after watching Corey Coleman, Will Fuller and Josh Doctson all come off the board ahead of them.

Would the Vikings have preferred to draft one of those other three receivers? We’ll never know.

In Treadwell, the Vikings get a big, tall receiver with a large catch radius. Treadwell may not have the speed of a Coleman or a Fuller, nor the athleticism of a Doctson, but there are plenty of scouts who believe he was the best receiver available in this year’s draft.

Some downgraded Treadwell after he ran a slow 40-yard dash at Ole Miss pro day, but the Vikings say they believe he will get back some speed as he continues to recover from the leg injury he suffered a year ago.

Vikings GM Rick Spielman also told the media that the team fielded calls from teams looking to trade up but ultimately elected to stay at #23 and make Treadwell the pick.

Treadwell may not have the pure speed some people want from a receiver, but he is big and he can catch the ball. You can argue, and quite rightly, that the Vikings’ biggest need was a possession-type receiver who can make tough catches in traffic and make plays in the red zone. Treadwell arguably fits that bill better than the three men taken before him.

And Vikings coach Mike Zimmer likes that Treadwell can block. Sort of thing you’d expect Zimmer to say.

The truth about this year’s field of receiver prospects: There was no one single elite talent. Treadwell isn’t the fastest, but the faster guys Coleman and Fuller don’t have his ball-skills. Doctson did the best at the combine but he may not be as NFL-ready as Treadwell.

You weren’t getting a blow-up-the-league-right-away Randy Moss in this draft no matter what you did.

The Vikings needed a wide-out and they took the best available with their pick. When all is said and done, Treadwell could wind up being the best receiver of the four who were taken in the first. Short-term, the Vikes just hope he can fit into their offense and give Teddy Bridgewater a consistent target, someone who can help them move the sticks and score some points.

Long-term…who knows?