Minnesota Vikings 2017 NFL draft recap with grades and analysis
By Jordan Reid
"With the 170th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings select Rodney Adams, wide receiver, South Florida."
The Minnesota Vikings receiving core is very top-heavy with Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs penciled in as the top-two starters who will receive a heavy amount of targets. That leaves Laquon Treadwell, Jarius Wright and Isaac Freuchte as the other players with playing experience.
It’s a position that needed to be replenished after losing Cordarrelle Patterson and Charles Johnson via free agency. Every receiver on the roster is known as great possession targets, but none have devastating speed to blow the top off of the defense.
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With former South Florida receiver Rodney Adams now in the fold, they have a vertical threat who can now stretch the field and make defenses have to stay honest. Adams had 12 touchdown plays of at least 20 yards the past two seasons. Teams potentially will no longer be able to crowd the short-to-intermediate levels of the field.
Adams is a much smaller similar version of Cordarrelle Patterson in that he is a very explosive player once the ball is in his hands. As a route runner, he has a long way to go as he needs to clean up his footwork and route details, but being a key contributor in the passing game early on will not be his role.
If he does make the final 53-man roster, he will become the teams new deep threat. Where Adams will have a chance to be an early contributor is as a kick returner.
The Vikings lost one of the best in the NFL in Patterson and it is now an open audition to fill the kickoff return man vacancy. Adams averaged 25.2 yards per kickoff return in his college career.