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McNiff's Riffs: Good luck selling Viking squad without Beebe

Training camp is MADE for underdog stories, and Tim McNiff says the number one storyline coming out of Vikings camp involves a small free agent with big talent, and an NFL pedigree.
Credit: Dustin Bradford
Free agent wideout Chad Beebe is the breakout star of Vikings Training Camp.

The Vikings went into the 2015 season with significant questions at the wide receiver position.

The expected answers were supposed to be Cordarrelle Patterson, who the team had traded four draft picks to move back into the first round to get in the 2014 draft; Jarius Wright, a former 4th round pick entering his 4th season with the team; and Mike Wallace, a speedster the Vikings had acquired from Miami for a 5th round draft pick in the off-season.

Shockingly, none of those players led the team in receiving that season. That distinction went to a 5th round draft pick (actually, the team’s second 5th round selection that year), Stefon Diggs out of Maryland.

READ: More McNiff's Riffs

The Vikes were so sure about Diggs (hmmmmmm) that they deactivated him for the first three games of the regular season. Despite getting a late start Diggs went on to lead the Vikings with 52 catches for 720 yards and four touchdowns, earning a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America 2015 All-Rookie Team.

Aug 18, 2018; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Chad Beebe (84) leads the Vikings onto the field against the Jacksonville Jaguars before the game at U.S. Bank Stadium. (Photo: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports)

Where was Adam Thielen, you ask? Thielen had 12 catches for 144 yards and one TD while earning the distinction of being the Vikings Special Teams Player of the Year.

My point is, like all of us, the Vikings make mistakes. The good news is that neither Diggs nor Thielen was allowed to get away and as such the team enters the 2018 regular season with the receiver position generally regarded as an area of strength: The tandem of Diggs and Thielen is regarded as highly as any other team’s primary receivers in the NFL.

That said, the Vikings can be even better at the receiver spot in the upcoming season, provided they don’t overthink it.

It appears Laquon Treadwell is not only going to make the team, but is also slated to begin the season as the team’s starting slot receiver. The Vikings first round selection in the 2016 draft, Treadwell had three catches in Friday night’s preseason win over Seattle, including a career-long 27-yard catch and run. For a former first-rounder those numbers are pedestrian at best, but where Treadwell is concerned they’re cause for even the most jaded Viking fan to hold on to the flickering hope that Laquon still won’t turn out to be a complete bust (exactly what he has been to this point).

No team ever wants to give up on a first-round pick (Cordarrelle Patterson) but the Vikes were concerned enough about Treadwell that they went and signed Kendall Wright as a free-agent in the off-season. After five years in Tennessee, Wright spent last season with the offensively challenged Chicago Bears, where he still managed to catch 59 passes for 614 yards and a touchdown. Nothing spectacular but if those had been Treadwell’s numbers we might be clearing shelf space for him in the Vikings' new Hall of Fame in Eagan.

Other moves intended to shore up the position included bringing back second-year receivers Stacey Coley and Caleb Jones, signing Minnesota native Brandon Zylstra after a breakout season in the CFL, and bringing in undrafted but highly regarded receivers Jeff Badet of Oklahoma and Korey Robertson of Southern Mississippi.

Oh, and they also invited Chad Beebe of Northern Illinois for a free-agent tryout.

Unless you refuse to pay attention to the purple gang until the games count, you know that Chad Beebe (son of nine-year NFL vet Don Beebe) has been the 2018 Vikings training camp breakout player. If you somehow have missed the little guy's big splash I promise you that none of the other 31 NFL franchises have. I say there is NO WAY Beebe gets released and doesn’t get claimed by another team.

Chad Beebe is the son of Don Beebe, an undersized but scorching fast wide receiver who played for three teams (including the Packers) during his 9-year NFL career.

Generously listed at 5-9 and 165 pounds, Beebe wouldn’t frighten kindergartners on the first day of school. But so far, his preseason play of nine catches for 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns (including the 4th and 15, 4th quarter, 'game is on the line' heave from Kyle Sloter Friday night) has already made Beebe “the people's choice,” if not the purple’s choice.

Oh... he also returned a punt 34 yards, which could help the team gain clarity on a difficult decision regarding vet Marcus Sherels. But I digress.

One thing I learned over eight years as a high school football coach is unless you’re with the team every day... in meetings, the locker room, at practice, and know the ever-changing game plan... nobody on the outside (myself included) really knows what’s going on with the Vikings. That said, there is no way this team can cut Chad Beebe and not end up looking like a bunch of idiots.

You tell me that Treadwell has earned the starting spot at slot receiver, I’ll trust you. You say Zylstra showed enough in the various camps and can contribute on special teams? OK. You hope Stacey Coley can ever be healthy enough to contribute on special teams and I’ll give you grudging soft approval. But, if you let Chad Beebe walk to another team you are going to have MANY questions to answer.

My recommendation is to go into the season looking like the smartest kid in the class, not the other way around.

Last season the Vikes kept six receivers, so here are my six, heading into Thursday night’s final preseason game against Tennessee:

IN:

Adam Thielen

Stefon Diggs

Laquon Treadwell

Stacey Coley

Brandon Zylstra

Chad Beebe

OUT:

Kendall Wright

Jake Wieneke (Sorry kid, but hoping you’ll get picked-up elsewhere!)

Jeff Badet

Caleb Jones

Korey Robertson

Tavarrus King

Now, about Kyle Sloter and Trevor Siemian…… Do the Vikes still have a decision to make at backup QB?

The other pressing question, is Zimmer’s defense built to withstand Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford? The answers to these questions, like the ones surrounding the Vikings' wide receiver corps, are soon to come.

Hear more Vikings from Tim in his bi-weekly podcast "McNiff's Huddle" below:

On a mobile device, go here: https://mcniffshuddle.podbean.com/

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