The Minnesota Vikings signed Greg Jennings in 2013, and then drafted Cordarrelle Patterson few months later with the 29th overall pick. While Jennings has been a constant contributor when on the field, Patterson has struggled to improve his football skills and as a result lost his starting spot to Charles Johnson this past season. While the talent at receiver is deep for the Vikings, they lack a true go-to guy that would make life easier for new franchise quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
This year’s draft is rich with wide receiver talent, and with the future of Patterson looking much cloudier than before it’s time the Vikings find a tall talented receiver that can make an impact from Day 1. With the 11th overall pick they’ll have the possibility of choosing between the drafts top three pass catching prospects; Amari Cooper, DeVante Parker, and Kevin White.
Cooper is considered the complete package and consensus number one receiver, but even with the high likelihood he’s taken before the Vikings are on the clock they’ll still get to choose between two 6’3” receivers, one of which already has experience catching passes from Bridgewater. Parker is a senior from Louisville, and in 2013 with Bridgewater under center he caught 55 passes for 885 yards and 12 touchdowns, all of which are career highs.
Parker is a similar prospect to Patterson, but his football skills are more refined, and his hands more reliable. Parker is less explosive than Patterson, but he routinely made defenders miss at the college level and was a real threat to score whenever he touched the ball.
It will be interesting to see how fast Parker runs the 40-yard dash as he impresses on film and could touch the high 4.4′s. If this is the case, Parker could become a slightly slower version of Josh Gordon, a tall natural receiver that has the speed and break tackle ability to be a home run threat.
Protecting Bridgewater is a main concern of the Vikings offense, but so is finding a receiver that can get open and demand attention from more than one defender. Bridgewater was often forced to hold onto the football and take a sack because nobody was open, and Parker could help alleviate this pressure by giving Bridgewater a familiar face running routes.
The Vikings are in the midst of building a Super Bowl contending team, however, they must first help the development of Bridgewater by drafting a go-to wide receiver that can potentially have the same first-year impact as the rookie wide outs drafted this past Spring.
Nick Baker is a contributing writer for Rant Sports and you can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and add him to your network on Google.
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