Film Study: Ole Miss WR Treadwell is a physical force of nature
As the Ole Miss Rebels continue their ascent to the top of the Southeastern Conference’s food chain, we’re reminded of just how talented they are in the personnel department.
The defense is littered with stars: Cody Prewitt, C.J. Johnson, Tony Conner, Denzel Nkemdiche, and his brother Robert, immediately come to mind.
On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Bo Wallace and left tackle Laremy Tunsil provide the Rebels with some star power. Young receiver Cody Core has been a surprise for the Rebels this season.
But it’s sophomore receiver Laquon Treadwell that may be the most talented player on the entire roster.
And that’s saying a lot.
As a matter of fact, next to University of Alabama junior receiver Amari Cooper, Treadwell may be the most talented receiver in the country.
Ole Miss fans just saw Donte Moncrief dominate defensive backs for a couple of seasons en route to being a third-round draft choice of the Indianapolis Colts. As great as Moncrief was, Treadwell may be on another level.
Ole Miss fans have to be ecstatic at the current, and future, prospects of their team. Especially when it’s led by a certified monster at receiver.
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As the No. 1-ranked receiver coming out of Crete-Monee High School in Crete, Illinois (No. five overall according to Rivals.com), Treadwell could’ve gone to virtually any school he wanted to.
The fact that he chose to play at the University of Mississippi has to be a coup for head coach Hugh Freeze — who is quickly turning into possibly a top-five recruiter in the entire country.
At a listed 6’2″, 229 pounds, Treadwell is a complete mismatch for anyone trying to stop him from making a play. In Freeze’s wide-open spread-based attack, receivers are expected to be able to play both inside and out–in addition to being familiar with a pretty extensive route tree.
Receivers must also have the ability to stalk block defensive backs and read coverages on the fly.
Treadwell excels at all of these aspects. And more.
His skill set compares favorably to current Houston Texans’ star receiver Andre Johnson (6’3″, 229 lbs). It’s almost eerie how much Treadwell’s game resembles Johnson’s.
Both are a ton faster than they are given credit for; both are scheme diverse as they are perfect fits in a West Coast-based horizontal scheme, or pure vertical-stretch offense.
Additionally, both of them seem as though they are out there on the field playing basketball as they know how to position themselves for 50/50 balls better than anyone not named Randy Moss (former Minnesota Vikings/New England Patriots legend).
But most of all, both Treadwell and Johnson are two of the most physical players you’ll run across regardless of position.
Here we see Johnson showing his willingness to block. Oftentimes when you’re a bigger receiver, smaller corners believe they have to get overly physical with you in an attempt to slow you down.
In this famous incident against former Tennessee Titans’ corner Cortland Finnegan (5’10”, 190 lbs), who may be the feistiest player in the league, Johnson showed just how physical he could be.
As a matter of fact, on the very next play, he showed Finnegan why there are weight classes in combat sports as he provided the corner with a few knuckle sandwiches.
When you have a bigger receiver that carries himself as one, it often sets the tone for an offense.
Here’s Treadwell channeling his inner Johnson in the season opener against the Boise State Broncos.
Against Broncos’ corner Donte Deayon, Treadwell galvanized the Rebels by playing up to, and beyond, the whistle.
Both Johnson and Treadwell take great pride in blocking, which is something you rarely say about wide receivers.
Body Positioning
It’s frustrating watching a lot of the bigger receivers as most play as though they are half their size. They refuse to use their length and girth to their advantage and are often taken advantage of by much smaller defenders.
When you have the ability to use stiff-arms, lowered pad-level and body positioning to your advantage, why wouldn’t you?
Treadwell is masterful in how he uses his bigger frame to out-position defenders. It’s similar to a basketball player in the post: Keep the defender on your back pocket, get your hands up and force him to go through you to get to the ball.
We all know it’s a penalty if defenders go through receivers to get to passes, so it’s pretty much a win-win situation for a bigger receiver.
In this sequence, Treadwell ate up the press almost effortlessly by gaining top leverage in the arm-fighting phase of the route.
He has an innate way of slightly pushing off by not extending his arms. Some receivers can’t help but extend as they are just not strong enough to gain separation otherwise.
Furthermore, he gets himself between the defender and the ball effectively shielding his opponent from being able to recover. He also catches the ball at its highest point completing what was a perfect play.
YAC
Another aspect that Treadwell excels at is gaining yards after the catch. When you have a physical receiver that can break tackles you should just find ways to get the ball in his hands.
Treadwell is an absolute terror in the short-to-intermediate area of the field. You’ll rarely see him brought down by the initial defender, and he’s a threat to break every tackle he sees on a given play.
Case in point: Treadwell catches this dig-route and commences to make mincemeat out of an entire defense.
He breaks six tackles in a variety of ways: jukes, stiff-arms and sheer power.
When you have a receiver than can turn five-yard hitches into 50-yard explosive plays, you know you are dealing with someone special.
Treadwell is a generational-type talent that can put an entire offense on his back much like we’ve seen from Johnson. The physical nature with which he plays is perfect for an offense that lacks a true force in the backfield.
When combined with a stifling defense, the sky’s the limit for this Ole Miss squad.
Treadwell is well on his way to becoming a superstar.
