With the 23rd pick in the CSR Community Mock Draft, the Minnesota Vikings select WR Will Fuller.
Here's a look at the picks thus far:
19. Bills Select DT Jarran Reed (magicman56)
20. Jets Select WR Laquon Treadwell (chillicothe20)
21. Redskins Select WR Josh Dotson (Muhammad4)
22. Texans select WR Michael Thomas (| Carolina |)
The Vikings need to build a solid foundation around young quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, and adding a solid receiver to pair with Stefon Diggs is a great way to do that. Fuller would add dynamic speed (he ran a 4.32 40 at the NFL Combine) that would give the Vikings an even greater ability to stretch the field.
While he does display ridiculous ludicrous speed, not everything is sunshine and roses for Fuller. He has the tendency to get the dropsies, but his downfield production is good enough to take the risk. One benefit to Fuller's resume is he produced against quality competition, matching up against several defensive backs who will be selected within the first two rounds of the draft.
Here's a snippet of CSR draft analyst durst's take on Fuller's game against Florida State, from his Potential Panthers series:
FSU boasted a trio of future NFL defensive backs in Ronald Darby, PJ Williams, and Jalen Ramsey. Darby was ProFootballFocus' Defensive Rookie of the Year, and Ramsey is considered to be a top-five pick in the 2016 draft class.
Against the Seminoles, Fuller caught eight passes for 79 yards, with one touchdown. He also drew a (questionable) pass-interference call fro Darby in the end-zone. Throughout his career, Fuller has been very effective on receiver screens, but these were quickly sniffed out by the Seminoles, and Fuller's lack of strength makes this part of his game unlikely to transfer to the pros. He is nothing more than a nuisance blocker. Even against speed as impressive as Darby's the threat of the deep pass opened up curl routes and quick slants, where Fuller was very effective. He is a pretty refined route-runner, and ultra-quick in the open field.
I think the Vikings can use Fuller's ability on screens to open up their short-yardage offense beyond "hand the ball to Adrian Peterson", which would allow their receivers to create holes in coverage downfield as opposing defenses will begin cheating with an extra box defender. Fuller may not be the best choice for the Vikings, but at this point if there are no other receivers left who make sense in the first round, I think Minnesota will take the gamble.
The Cincinnati Bengals (Ivan Halley) are now on the clock!