What impact will Laquon Treadwell have on fantasy football in 2016?

The Minnesota Vikings had a tremendous need at the wide receiver position heading into the offseason this year. In 2015, they finished the season with the 31st ranked passing offense totaling only 2,928 yards and 14 touchdowns. The Vikings parted ways with underachieving veteran Mike Wallace and, aside from Stefon Diggs, have a depth chart full of question marks at the position. With a weak free agent wide receiver class, they had one place to address this inadequacy on their roster, the 2016 NFL Draft.

Start preparing for your league now with our NFL Draft Simulator

With the 23rd overall pick in the draft, the Vikings selected Ole Miss receiver, Laquon Treadwell to potentially become their No. 1 threat on the outside. Treadwell finished his collegiate career as Ole Miss’ all-time reception leader catching 202 targets in a span of three seasons and totaled 2,393 yards and 21 touchdowns. Amongst his other accolades, he was voted third-team All-American and first-team All-SEC in 2015 as his college tenure was coming to an end.

Although the Vikings already have Diggs on their roster, the No.1 receiver spot is Treadwell’s for the taking. Diggs finished his rookie year as the team’s leader in receptions and receiving yards, snagging 52-of-84 targets for 720 yards and his four touchdowns fell one short of Kyle Rudolph’s five. That type of production barely scratches the surface of what is sufficient in today’s NFL. Outside of Diggs, there is not another wide receiver on the roster who had over 50 receptions in 2015 as Rudolph, their tight end, finished the year with 49.

2015 Minnesota Vikings Wide Receiver and Tight End Statistics

Treadwell landed in an ideal situation for a rookie wide receiver to succeed due to the presence of Minnesota’s rushing attack led by Adrian Peterson, who finished last season with 1,485 yards and 11 trips to the end zone. The Vikings’ offense will run through Peterson as it has since he entered the league in 2007. Peterson’s success this year will play a large role in Treadwell’s. The opposing defense will have to honor the run which takes away the double team and opens up the play action pass downfield.

Treadwell’s production also rides on the arm of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Since entering the league in 2014, Bridgewater’s most consistent target has been Rudolph. He hasn’t had a wide receiver with a ceiling like Treadwell’s in his young career. Although he doesn’t have jaw-dropping speed, Treadwell could move the chains and eat up chunks of yards to keep the offense on the field while Diggs is used as a deep threat.

Despite all of the upside that Treadwell brings to Minnesota, the Vikings are still a run-first team. They have the 20th ranked schedule of teams defending against opposing fantasy wide receivers giving up an average of 22.3 FPPG and Bridgewater is hardly a gunslinger. He has yet to throw over 14 touchdowns in a season in his two years. Treadwell will have his most value in PPR scoring formats and anything over five touchdowns would be considered a bonus in 2016. Treadwell is the 47th ranked wide receiver (125th overall) according to our expert consensus, and he has a #43 ADP at his position. He should be viewed as a high-end WR3 with upside and is worth a flier anywhere after the 11th round of upcoming fantasy drafts with a PPR scoring system and above the 13th round in standard formats.

Anthony Cervino is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Anthony, check out his archive or follow him on Twitter @theRealNFLguru.