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Yesterday, Dan Kadar over at the mothership put together his latest 2016 NFL Mock Draft. He featured several trades in his first round in an effort to shake things up a bit. Despite all the deals, the Minnesota Vikings held tight at #23 in Kadar's mock and. . .well, they did what just about everybody seems to think they should do.
Kadar has the Vikings taking Texas Christian wide receiver Josh Doctson with their first round selection. Doctson is the third receiver off of the board in this particular mock. . .Laquon Treadwell of Mississippi went at #16 to the Vikings' division rivals, the Detroit Lions, while Corey Coleman of Baylor went with the selection right before Minnesota's to the Houston Texans. Another wide receiver, Will Fuller of Notre Dame, was mocked to the Cincinnati Bengals with the pick right after Minnesota's.
Dan's analysis of the Doctson selection isn't much different from what we've been saying all this time.
Minnesota needs a wide receiver like Doctson. In their offense, he would be the big body jump ball target that Teddy Bridgewater needs. Doctson can be an excellent red zone option for the Vikings, and the only people who will like him more than Bridgewater are fantasy football players.
This mock came out before yesterday's Pro Day down at Mississippi, where Treadwell ran a 40-yard dash that, while slow by most standards (4.65 seconds) was right around where most people expected. Still, there are plenty of pundits out there that think the slower time could push Treadwell further down the draft board. He'll still be a first round selection, in all likelihood, but now Treadwell could seriously be in play for the Vikings.
The wide receiver class in this year's draft isn't terribly top-heavy, but it appears that there are good values to be had later. Are you leaning towards agreeing with the consensus that feels the team will address the position early, or do you think Rick Spielman and company will end up waiting until later on in the selection process?