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Rick Spielman: Vikings aren’t locked into taking a receiver in first round

Minnesota Vikings Press Conference

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - SEPTEMBER 17: General Manager Rick Spielman of the Minnesota Vikings speaks to the media during a press conference on September 17, 2014 at Winter Park in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The Vikings addressed their decision to put Adrian Peterson on the commissioner’s exempt list until Peterson’s child-abuse case has been resolved. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

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If you’re the sort who likes to spend the days leading up to the draft reading various people’s predictions about how players will come off the board, you’ve likely noticed that most of this fine nation’s mock drafters believe the Vikings are going to take a wide receiver in the first round of the draft.

Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman seems to be aware of that trend because he opened a Tuesday press conference by saying he was sure he’d get questions about receivers and preemptively announced that the Vikings aren’t “honed in” on taking one on Thursday night. Spielman cited getting Stefon Diggs in the fifth round of last year’s draft as an example of finding wideouts in different places and said he thinks this year’s crop offers possibilities throughout the process.

“I do think there’s a lot of quality at that position as you go down through it,” Spielman said. “There’s different styles, different types, small ones, tall ones. I’ve mentioned earlier, we don’t look so much at the height, per se, as the catching radius. There’s fast guys, there’s possession guys, so there’s a lot of different flavors.”

Spielman also spent some time talking about what the receivers other than Diggs can bring to the team, but it’s still a spot that sticks out as one the Vikings need to upgrade if they’re going to take a step forward offensively in 2016.