Minnesota Vikings: Bridgewater impressed by Laquon Treadwell

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater hasn’t known rookie wide receiver Laquon Treadwell for very long, but the young pass catcher is impressing.

Last year, there was something amiss about the connection between Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and veteran wide receiver Mike Wallace. The two players never appeared to be on the same page offensively, and that resulted in a disappointing season from Wallace as well as his release from the team.

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With Wallace’s exit, that opened up a huge hole at wide receiver. Luckily, the Vikings were able to land one of the top wide receiver prospects in the 2016 NFL Draft in Ole Miss wide receiver Laquon Treadwell.

The Minnesota VIkings organization as well as the team’s fans are hoping that there can be a solid connection between the new wide receiver and Bridgewater. Thankfully, that appears to be building already, with Teddy Bridgewater already having high hopes for Treadwell.

"“He’s going to be big for this team,” Bridgewater said on Vikings.com. “There’s a reason that we drafted him in the first round.”"

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Bridgewater’s excitement is justified. There is a lot to like about Treadwell. The rookie pass catcher has proven that he has great acceleration and can adjust to passes well and haul in passes that are off target in college, but despite Bridgewater’s limited time with Treadwell, he’s already impressed.

"“He’s been here with us for two days now, and he’s been looking good. I’m not qualified to judge players and things like that, but from what I’ve been seeing, I’ve been pretty impressed.”"

Hopefully, Treadwell can be a reliable target for Bridgewater, and one that can help the team in the red zone. Last year, the Minnesota Vikings struggled badly when it came to punching in touchdowns. During 2015. Bridgewater had 51 passes in the red zone, completing 21 of those for 9 touchdowns and 1 interception according to Pro Football Reference. When inside the 10 yard line, Bridgewater only completed 7 of his 21 passes with 6 touchdowns and no interceptions.

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With the Minnesota Vikings struggles when drafting wide receivers early in the draft, the pressure is on the organization to hit a home run with Laquon Treadwell. With the team’s lights-out defense, if the offense can get clicking for the Vikings, they could be legitimate threats to make a deep playoff run in the near future.

**Updated on 5/20/16*** to correct a statistical error on Bridgewater’s touchdowns inside the 10 yard line. My apologies for the mistake.