Minnesota Vikings WR duo Stefon Diggs & Laquan Treadwell

The Minnesota Vikings have one of the most interesting WR duos in the NFL in Stefon Diggs and Laquan Treadwell. How good can they be together?

Whether by free agency or through the draft, the Minnesota Vikings have been looking for ways to bring the passing game back to an elite level like they had in the late 90s/early 2000s. Heck, they even tried bringing back Randy Moss for a second stint at one point.

Going into the 2016 season, Vikings fans have plenty of reason to be optimistic, and it’s largely due to the emergence of 2015 breakout rookie Stefon Diggs and 2016 first round pick Laquan Treadwell.

Diggs’ phenomenal rookie season came after he spent some games on the inactive list. Looking back and knowing what we know now, it’s fun to speculate what might have been going on there. Diggs was so quickly and so clearly a top flight target for the Vikings, it’s hard to believe something just clicked in the middle of the season.

It was clear from his first game of the 2015 season against the Denver Broncos that Diggs was going to be something special. The Broncos’ secondary — known as the ‘No Fly Zone’ — surrendered six catches to Diggs on 10 targets for 87 yards and an average yards per catch of 14.5.

It wasn’t his biggest total of the year, but the separation he was getting on a variety of routes was shocking to behold, especially given the fact it was his first NFL game.

That was merely the tip of the iceberg, however, as Diggs went on the next week to have his first 100 yard game against the Kansas City Chiefs. He had another 100-yard game the following week against the Detroit Lions, and added his first career touchdown, an incredible play.

The rest of his rookie season was somewhat slow going. He had a two-touchdown performance against the Chicago Bears, but ended the year against the Packers with a one catch game on just two targets. Against Seattle in the playoffs, he was targeted six times with four catches and 26 yards.

Despite the ups and downs, which are to be expected in a rookie season, Diggs enters 2016 with relatively high expectations. He is probably going to be the Vikings’ no. 1 wide receiver at least until further notice.

The Vikings used a 2016 first round pick on Laquan Treadwell, who will undoubtedly come in and have an early impact provided he can stay healthy. Treadwell, in my opinion, had every trait of a no. 1 wide receiver in the NFL even though he wasn’t a blazer in the 40-yard-dash.

While at Ole Miss, Treadwell made some incredible plays. He has strong hands, a good frame, and drew some comparisons to Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant. The Vikings would certainly take anything close to that. Treadwell gives them an option opposite Diggs with great size that can separate with quickness and high point the ball to win one-on-one situations.

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Both of these players are strong after the catch, which will be of paramount importance due to Teddy Bridgewater not having the best deep ball arm. To me, those criticisms of Bridgewater are somewhat overrated but we’ll have an opportunity to see again this year what he brings to the table as he continues to grow as a player.

With both Diggs and Treadwell to go along with proven veterans Kyle Rudolph and Adrian Peterson, the Vikings have an interesting assembly of talent at the skill positions offensively, and should be able to have a versatile passing attack.

Diggs and Treadwell could complement each other really well early on in their careers. These are two sure-handed receivers who are effective after the catch that run good routes and find ways to create separation at every level of defense.

It will be a lot of fun to watch in Minneapolis this year, that’s for sure.

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