Laquon Treadwell is entering a good situation with the Minnesota Vikings, but NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks has huge projections for the rookie wide receiver.
Trying to figure out how rookies will perform now that they’ve made the jump to the NFL can be very difficult. Some players who were stars at the college level can never recreate that kind of success when they become professionals. Other young men flourish in ways they never could when the pressure is on, so predicting their first-year performance can be very hard.
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However, NFL.com Media analyst Bucky Brooks recently took a look at all of the offensive “skill” players who were selected in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft and put together an article with his NFL rookie projections including best-case and worst-case scenarios for each.
Here is what Brooks says is the best-case scenario for Minnesota Vikings rookie wide receiver Laquon Treadwell this season:
"“Treadwell emerges as a WR1, enabling Teddy Bridgewater to take the next step in his development as a franchise quarterback. The 6-foot-2, 221-pound pass catcher anchors the passing game and immediately becomes the Vikings‘ designated red-zone weapon. His willingness to do the dirty work between the hashes helps Stefon Diggs manufacture big plays outside the numbers. As Bridgewater begins to find his rhythm in a retooled offense, his new WR1’s performance and production spurs the Vikings into legitimate Super Bowl contenders.”"
A situation like this would be fantastic for Minnesota. Have a big wide receiver to take pressure off the run game and make plays in the red zone would be exactly what the doctor ordered for a struggling Minnesota Vikings passing game which finished very close to the bottom of the league last year.
To keep balance, Brooks also talked about what the worst case situation would be this season for Laquon Treadwell…and it wasn’t pretty.
"“Skeptics who worried about Treadwell’s ability to create separation due to his pedestrian 40 time are vindicated. Although he shows he’s capable of using his physicality and size to ward defenders off at the catch point, Treadwell has trouble consistently getting open against CB1s in key moments highlighting a need for him to refine his technical skills.”"
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But things should end up somewhere in the middle of the best-case and worst-case scenarios. For that, Brooks has projected what Treadwell’s statistics will be for the upcoming season, and it’s easy to see that he has high expectations for the young man.
"“65 receptions, 850 yards and 10 touchdowns”"
To put things in perspective, that number of receptions, receiving yardage and touchdown total are more than he projected for any other wide receiver in the NFL entering their rookie season.
If Treadwell can have 850 receiving yards, that would be the most since Percy Harvin back in 2011 (967), when he was the favorite target of rookie quarterback Christian Ponder. And 10 receiving touchdowns would be the most for a Vikings wide receiver since a man named Randy Moss caught 13 in 2004.
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Hopefully, Laquon Treadwell will come close to matching the projections of Bucky Brooks and help make the Minnesota VIkings offense more dangerous during the 2016 NFL season. If that happens, this could be a very scary team that could make some noise in the playoffs for many years to come.