Minnesota Vikings WR Laquon Treadwell gets another chance to shine
By Adam Carlson
The Minnesota Vikings will need to get more from wide receiver Laquon Treadwell since the team has parted ways with two pass catchers this offseason.
In the 2016 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings used their first-round draft pick on Mississippi wide receiver Laquon Treadwell in hopes of finding a long-term answer at a position where they had a great need.
Instead, two other players stepped up in a big way. Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs have established themselves as one of the best pass-catching duos in the NFL, leaving Treadwell to share reps with Jarius Wright and Michael Floyd.
With Wright being reported to be signing with the Panthers after being released on Friday and Floyd still a free agent, this opens things up for Treadwell to make an impact and get more playing time during the 2018 NFL season.
Minnesota Vikings
Treadwell spent a lot of his rookie season either recovering from injuries or dealing with previously existing ones. He played in 9 games, starting one of them, but only caught one pass for 15 yards the entire season.
His 2017 campaign was better. He played in all 16 regular season games and started 7 of those. During the regular season last year, he was targeted 35 times according to Pro Football Reference, catching 20 of those for 200 yards.
Now, the spotlight will be much brighter on Treadwell. Expectations will still need to be high since he was a first-round draft pick, but the featured players in the passing game will still likely be Thielen and Diggs along with Kyle Rudolph and Dalvin Cook.
That means he won’t be lighting up the stat sheets like a top receiver, but as long as he can be a solid contributor and a reliable target for Kirk Cousins, he should be able to carve out a niche for himself in the Vikings offense.
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The Minnesota Vikings will still likely use a draft pick on a wide receiver this year or add an inexpensive free agent, but Treadwell should have the advantage of having two years of experience under his belt. The only question is whether or not he will be able to capitalize on this opportunity.