Thursday was supposed to be a shining moment for Ole Miss, a football program very much on the rise in the SEC. The Rebels were expected to have three players, all of which were apart of coach Hugh Freeze’s first recruiting class, go in the first round.
Although that dream did become a reality, the night quickly turned into a nightmare, as lots of Ole Miss deep dark secrets were revealed. Everything from a weird gas mask bong leaked photo to offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil admitting he took money from a member of the coaching staff, it was not a good night for the Rebels.
If anything positive does come out of it, former Ole Miss wide receiver Laquon Treadwell landed in a spot where he can have some immediate success in fantasy leagues.
That would be with the Minnesota Vikings, who with Adrian Peterson back in 2015, made the playoffs for the first time in three years. Second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater played well last season, but he needs another weapon to really take another step forward.
Treadwell is that guy. He led the SEC with 82 catches and 1,153 yards while also catching 11 touchdowns in 2015.
The Vikings wanted veteran Mike Wallace to be the team’s downfield threat, but it just didn’t work out last year. Treadwell should fill that role nicely while playing alongside Stefon Diggs, who finished first on the team with 52 catches and 720 yards.
Diggs also led the team with 84 targets, but Wallace was second among wide receivers with 72 targets. Since he is no longer on the team and with no other obvious choice to accumulate those targets, Treadwell could be due for quite a nice volume his rookie season.
And make no mistake, even though the former Rebels receiver may be taking the place of Wallace on the roster and the field, he is much more that just a deep threat. Ole Miss actually didn’t use him all that much on downfield routes, so he is very comfortable also being an underneath, possession receiver.
The biggest concern about Treadwell, and the reason he fell in the draft like his two Rebels teammates was his 40-yard dash time, which was 4.63 at the combine. That’s pretty slow for a receiver that is supposed to be a deep threat, and it may even scare off some owners come fantasy draft day.
Obviously time will tell whether speed will be an issue with Treadwell, but it’s been proven time and again that “measurables” are often overvalued when it comes to the NFL draft. The greatest wide receiver of all-time, Jerry Rice, ran a 4.59 40-time according to then 49ers coach Bill Walsh. Another website recalled Rice being timed at 4.71 in his 40-yard dash.
The first thing that comes to mind with Rice may not be his speed, but it’s very hard to remember a time where he was ever caught from behind in the open field. Some players run faster on the field than in timed runs and vice versa. A more recent example is DeAndre Hopkins, who ran a 4.57 40-yard dash three years ago.
That’s not to say Treadwell is the next Rice or Hopkins; it just means a bad 40-time shouldn’t turn NFL teams or fantasy owners off a receiver when he looked like one of the best and fastest guys during the college football season.
Another factor to consider is Treadwell suffered an extremely gruesome leg injury just a year and a half ago. He broke his fibula and dislocated his ankle in November of 2014. At the time, there were doubts about whether Treadwell would ever be the same again.
Instead, he was even better last season, and as he moves further away from the injury, there’s a possibility he gets faster.
Fantasy owners learned last season that not every draft class is going to have an Odell Beckham, Sammy Watkins or Mike Evans. Treadwell doesn’t have the same fantasy value that those players had as rookies, but with defenses preparing to stack the box to stop Adrian Peterson and Diggs on the other side, Treadwell going to the Vikings is about the best thing that happened to Ole Miss on Thursday.
Of course, that isn’t saying much. Target Treadwell as a WR4 in standard 12-team leagues.
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