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What went wrong with Laquon Treadwell?WINTER PARK/EAGAN — On the Friday before Laquon Treadwell’s expected debut against the Titans, he was the last person off the practice field. He stood a few yards away from the Jugs machine catching football after football, presumably imagining each as his first NFL catch.
But in Tennessee, Treadwell watched from the sideline with his helmet as Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen combined for 11 catches, 157 yards.
It was probably over then.
On Saturday the Minnesota Vikings searched for a trade partner for Treadwell — as they had been doing for a very long time — and came up empty handed. Finally they were forced to waive him and wave a white flag on their 2016 first-round pick.
Over his three years as a Viking, Treadwell caught 56 passes for 517 yards and one touchdown. Of all the receivers in the NFL to catch at least 50 passes since 2016, he ranked 124th of 126 in yards per reception (per Pro-Football Reference). In 2017, Pro Football Focus ranked Treadwell 97th of 107 by its grading system and in 2018 he rated 106th out of 108 receivers with at least 30 targets.
There will be no arguments about Treadwell as there were over Cordarrelle Patterson, who was one of the best all-time kick returners and a dynamic, under-utilized playmaker with the ball in his hands. There were no flashes of excellence as with Troy Williamson. He had grabs of 56, 46 and 60 yards in his three seasons as a regular. Treadwell’s longest reception was 25 yards.
No one will debate whether he is a bust but the questions that will be asked about Laquon Treadwell are: How did a team that found its star receivers in the fifth round and undrafted miss so badly on a No. 1 pick? Should the finger be pointed at the front office? At Treadwell? At the coaches? At circumstances and bad luck? What went wrong?
https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2019...treadwell/
Despite a horrific injury that ended his 2014 season, Treadwell dominated the SEC in 2015. He caught 82 passes for 1,153 yards and 11 touchdowns. Every 50-50 ball that went up in the air, he caught. Against LSU, he went against future draft pick Tre White and at one point boxed out the NFL-caliber DB for an impressive touchdown grab. He was so physically impressive, he earned the nickname “Megaquon,” a play off Calvin Johnson’s “Megatron” moniker.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein quoted a scout from the AFC saying this about Treadwell:
Quote:“He’s going to get beat up because he’s slow but I like everything else he does. You would think scouts would learn about overestimating speed and underestimating tape. He’ll go in the first but not sure how high.”
Zierlein compared the ex-Viking receiver to DeAndre Hopkins.
Current Yahoo! Sports football writer Matt Harmon, who created tracking data called “Reception Perception” to study each route receivers run, found that Treadwell’s lack of speed did not impact his ability to make plays in college and said that he was impressive in many areas. Harmon wrote:
Quote:“More proof that speed is overrated: Treadwell posted an above average success rate vs. coverage score on all three of the downfield routes—the post, nine and corner. The player with 4.63 speed wins downfield. Being a vertical threat is just as much about deception and the receiver’s work within the first ten yards of a route as it is about running fast. Treadwell routinely wins off the line against press coverage, and doesn’t tip his routes. In fact, he sells the defender on the idea he’s stay shallow before shuttling downfield. He utilizes that same deception with the subtle head fakes to send a corner one way before breaking the opposite direction to earn separation.
Of course there were detractors. Pro Football Focus’s Sam Monson wrote an extensive piece called “ Why Laquon Treadwell is not a top WR prospect.” In the piece Monson pointed out Treadwell’s struggles with separation. He wrote:
Quote:“His issue though is that he won’t separate regularly, and doesn’t actually take advantage of his ability to win contested catches as much as he should do. Treadwell reminds some of Dez Bryant or Michael Irvin, but to me he looks far more like Kenny Britt. Britt has had success at times in the NFL and was a first-round pick himself, so that’s not necessarily a disaster. He was taken with the 30th selection of the draft, in part because of exactly the same concerns over being able to separate. In my opinion, Treadwell is far closer to that area of the draft than a top-five pick.”
On draft day it became obvious that some teams agreed with Monson. The Cleveland Browns took Corey Coleman with the 15th pick, then Houston grabbed Will Fuller at 21 and Washington picked Josh Doctson with the 22nd selection.
“He brings us a big, physical receiver that brings us a large catching radius, we went back and watched his 2014 tape as a group and we felt by far he was the top receiver coming out,” GM Rick Spielman told Vikings.com after the selection.
Turns out the best receiver in the class, Michael Thomas, wasn’t taken until the 47th pick. Everyone missed.
PFF draft analyst Mike Renner told the Purple Daily show that receivers can be particularly difficult to scout because of the nature of college football.
“One of the biggest things we came up with is separation down the field,” Renner said. “A lot of guys will produce in college football just because they are the focal point of their respective offense. They are just getting pumped targets and aren’t necessarily having to beat coverages. So that was a big thing that we tried to isolate was actual times guys had to beat coverage and had to run routes that fooled the defender.”
The Vikings entered 2018 with a new quarterback and new offensive coordinator. They both vowed to give Treadwell a fresh start.
Cousins wasn’t the only one buying an improvement. New OC John DeFilippo used him between 54% and 89% of snaps over the first four weeks of the season and he caught 12 passes — a pace that would have put him near 50 receptions for the year. But the same signs of struggle were still there.
In Week 1 there was a miscommunication with tight end Kyle Rudolph and the Pro Bowler threw up his arms in frustration with Treadwell. In Week 2 he dropped a pass right into the hands of a Packers defender, nearly costing the Vikings the game.
His issues came to a head against New Orleans. On a key fourth down, Cousins targeted Treadwell over the middle. The throw was high but Diggs or Thielen normally bring that ball in. Instead it bounced off the tips of Treadwell’s hands and then the Saints quickly took care of business and scored a game-changing touchdown.
When DeFilippo was fired, Kevin Stefanski quickly got to work moving Treadwell out of the offense. He caught zero passes in Stefanski’s first game and was benched in favor of Chad Beebe in Week 16 against Detroit. Had Beebe been healthy that would have happened again in Week 17 but Treadwell was forced into action. If there was ever a last chance to make an impression, that was it. He caught one pass for seven yards.
It was definitely over when the Vikings named Stefanski their full-time offensive coordinator.
As for Treadwell, he should find a new home. There’s little downside for bottom teams to sign a former first-rounder with hopes that they might find lightning in a bottle.
And the Vikings will take the heat. They desperately drafted for need and ultimately took a player with fatal flaws for NFL receivers.
So the Treadwell story ends with a sprinkle of all the typical NFL bust stories. Bad luck, red flags, unfortunate circumstances, second/third/fourth chances and plenty of hindsight.
ya can polish pig all ya want----just turns into a sconnie weekend at closing time
Couldn't get open. I just don't know what Treadwell would offer a team they can't get with any other 5 players they could bring in at any time. He doesn't have one skill that's exceptional. Not saying he won't get signed somewhere, what I'm saying is he'll never move the needle anywhere in the NFL. Maybe the Lions will sign him just to get some insight to our offense when we play twice.
Quote: @Akvike said:
ya can polish pig all ya want----just turns into a sconnie weekend at closing time
I'm pretty sure if you polish the pig long enough it turns into bacon.......mmmmm
Quote: @AGRforever said:
@ Akvike said:
ya can polish pig all ya want----just turns into a sconnie weekend at closing time
I'm pretty sure if you polish the pig long enough it turns into bacon.......mmmmm
if you are talking about rubbing your sausage to much i think you will go blind.
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