OVERVIEW
Another one of Ole Miss' great recruiting pickups over the past few years, Treadwell was a five-star recruit, consensus All-American, and overall No. 1 receiver prospect in the country. Not surprisingly, he parlayed his talent to selection as the top freshman in the SEC in 2013 (72-608, five scores). Things were going swimmingly for Treadwell as a sophomore until he suffered a broken fibula against Auburn in the last month of the season; he finished with 48 catches for 632 yards and five touchdowns in nine games. Despite the late-season injury, he worked hard (losing 25 pounds without any strength) to play in the 2015 season opener and helped the Rebels beat Alabama in mid-September (5-80, TD). Treadwell only got better as he gained confidence in his surgically-repaired leg, finishing the year with 82 catches, 1,153 yards, and 11 scores as a Biletnikoff Award finalist, All-American (second team Walter Camp, third team AP), and first-team All-SEC pick by league coaches. The icing on the cake for Treadwell was his performance in his final game for Ole Miss, catching three touchdowns against Oklahoma State in the Rebels' Sugar Bowl victory.
PRO DAY RESULTS
40-yard dash: 4.63 seconds
20-yard shuttle: 4.29 seconds
3-cone: 7.05 seconds
Vertical: 33 1/2 inches
STRENGTHS
Good height and overall length. Smart receiver with a competitive edge when the ball is in the air. Catch-winner. Has a natural feel for the nuances of the position. Has feel for defender and is careful to work back to throws while shielding cornerbacks from the ball. Hands catcher with adequate body control who can climb the ladder and high point catches over defenders. Truly shines with ball-tracking skills and rarely gives away location of the ball with early movements when racing downfield against cornerbacks. Has subtle shiftiness in his routes thanks to his clean footwork. Can stagger and stutter feet while still working through his routes. Zone eater who has great understanding of positioning in space and giving his quarterback cleanest throw possible. Uses quality stiff arm after the catch for additional "RAC" yards. Willing to block, but has size and temperament to become much better at it.
WEAKNESSES
Doesn't have the cushion-eating, vertical speed to scare cornerbacks. Cornerbacks will crowd his underneath routes from off-man coverage. Benefitted with several easy catches in space against zone coverage. Struggled to free himself from press coverage against LSU's Tre'Davious White and may have separation issues in pros against quick cornerbacks. Takes time to gear down into breaks once he gets speed up. Could stand to be more physical in his release against press. Had more focus drops in 2015 than over previous two seasons. Suffered season-ending injury in November of 2014 with broken fibula and dislocated ankle.
DRAFT PROJECTION
Round 1
SOURCES TELL US
"He's going to get beat up because he's slow but I like everything else he does. You would think scouts would learn about overestimating speed and underestimating tape. He'll go in the first but not sure how high." -- AFC Southeastern scout
NFL COMPARISON
DeAndre Hopkins
BOTTOM LINE
Like DeAndre Hopkins, both players should be defined by their talent, ball skills and consistency of production over pure speed numbers. Treadwell is at his best when he has a clean, two-way go off the line of scrimmage and he could be a challenging size matchup from the slot. While Ole Miss used him underneath quite a bit, he runs quality downfield routes and has the ball skills needed to become a more vertical receiver than underneath, possession guy.
-NFL.com
