Receiving Favorites

There's a better than decent chance that the Minnesota Vikings draft a receiver in the early rounds of the 2016 NFL Draft. There might not be the obvious talent at the top of this draft that was present at the top of the past two drafts. That's hardly a criticism as the past two drafts were historically great. This class of receivers have some intriguing receiving talent and the Vikings might grab some of that talent early. The receivers are showing their skills today at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis today. After seeing those receivers run, jump, and catch here are some of my favorites.

1. Tyler Boyd, Pittsburgh, 6'1" 197
I just love the way that Boyd catches the football. He makes it look so easy. So natural. He's physical. He gets the ball in a crowd. He didn't run a great 40, high-4.5, but that was probably expected. He's not a burner. He just a terrific receiver. Hopefully, teams pass on Boyd because of his speed and he's still on the board about two-thirds of the way through the second round. Boyd doesn't make most "Top-5 Receiver" lists but he's my favorite receiver in this class.

2. Josh Doctson, TCU, 6'2" 202
Doctson is a more explosive athlete than Boyd. I just prefer Boyd's receiving talents. That's not to say that Doctson's receiving talents are lacking. I'd be thrilled to see either in a Vikings uniform next year. Like Boyd, Doctson isn't a burner but he's still a terrific deep threat. With a 41-inch vertical he can go up and snatch the ball. He can probably do that better than any other receiver in this draft and it might be enough to keep him from even making it to the Vikings pick at #23.

3. Laquon Treadwell, Mississippi, 6'2" 221
Treadwell didn't run for really no reason other than he didn't want to run a slow time. Players shying away from taking part in drills always bothers me. Why not compete? A receiver is either fast or he's not and this isn't a particularly fast receiver class to start. Treadwell wasn't expected to be a fast receiver so not running probably does more harm than running slow. Treadwell is a big receiver. The sort of receiver that the Vikings don't have right now. He had a terrible leg injury in 2014 and I don't think that he was completely recovered last year. He was a game-changer before the injury and was a very good receiver after the injury. I think that Treadwell might be a physically ascending player right now. I've seen comparisons to Alshon Jeffery, DeAndre Hopkins and Demaryius Thomas. I'd take any one of those guys.

4. Kenny Lawler, Cal, 6'2" 203
I've seen more of Lawler than any other receiver in this draft class. I would have seen much more if not for the ridiculous pissing-match between AT&T/Directv and the Pac-12 Networks. The pathetic inability of those collections of clowns to agree on pretty much anything has kept most Cal games off of this Cal fan's television. But, that's a whole other story. Lawler has been Cal quarterback Jared Goff's go-to receiver in the red zone for three years. For reasons that were a complete mystery to me Cal rarely went to Lawler between the 20s but focused on him routinely in the red zone. Defenses knew that Cal was targeting Lawler when they got close to the end zone. They still couldn't stop him. That says something about his ability to get open and his ability to get the ball. He often secured the ball in spectacular fashion. He can fill a highlight reel. He also had a couple of bad drops in the Utah game last year. Those were a bit shocking as those were the only two drops that I can distinctly remember in his three years in Berkeley. His ability to make plays outside of the red zone are a mystery. I'd like to have seen Cal go to him down the field more. I'd like to have seen him run some deep routes. All I know for sure is that he's one of the best possession receivers in the draft. That's good to know. He could be a steal even as early as the third round.

5. Michael Thomas, Ohio State, 6'3" 212
Thomas always seemed to be "one of the other guys" at Ohio State. He was the other guy to Devin Smith, Ezekiel Elliott, and those quarterbacks in 2014. He was the other guy to Braxton Miller, Ezekiel Elliott, and those quarterbacks last year. Because of all of those other guys in college I'm thinking that his best football days have yet to be seen. Like Treadwell, he's a receiver with terrific size. I like what I've seen of him I just haven't seen enough of him.

Just because I don't have Baylor's Corey Coleman and Oklahoma's Sterling Shepard among the above five doesn't mean that I don't like them. I like both a great deal. I don't think that Coleman is even going to be available to the Vikings. As things stand now, I expect him to be the first receiver taken in the draft. I don't want to pigeon-hole any football player before he even steps on an NFL football field but I'm afraid that Shepard might be strictly a slot receiver and I think that the Vikings need an outside-the-numbers receiver.

One receiver that's something of a wildcard for me is Rutger's Leonte Carroo. He's also on the wrong side of 6' but he plays much bigger. He packs 211 pounds on his shade-under 6' frame so he's something of a bull. Some consider him a short Anquan Boldin. There's nothing wrong with that. My concern with Carroo is off the field. He shoved a woman to the ground last fall. Inflicting injuries. The assault charge that resulted was dropped after the victim decided not to pursue the case. Despite the charges being dropped this is a very serious concern.

This receiver class might not have the sparkle of the past two but I like them. There's some real nice talent.