Adam Thielen

[hockeyBjj]

Thielen's yet another example of how high the route-craft ceiling is. Thielen's getting open at will, and it's not because of an athletic cheat-code, not because he's only just now unlocked elite speed/burst/agility/catch-radius/play-strength/etc at age 28.

Amazingly true. He's not lacking the athletic abilities, but he's no Tyreek Hill wonder at them

The route craft is the big piece. The other are his amazing hands. Quarterbacks know he's a true "If I can touch it I can catch it" reciever so with their trust comes volume. Multiply that by his openness abilities and now you have a high volume Landry in Miami type guy, but 15-30 yards down the field not 4-7

Thielen also has a piece where he talks training himself to leave his hands down until the last possible second before flashing them out and intersecting with the ball. A) keeps defenders away from being able to swat his hands at the catch point B) the constant movement means he's never waiting for the ball to get in and getting off by half an inch trying to hold steady

[Valhalla]

Thielen's yet another example of how high the route-craft ceiling is. Thielen's getting open at will, and it's not because of an athletic cheat-code, not because he's only just now unlocked elite speed/burst/agility/catch-radius/play-strength/etc at age 28.

Thielen also has a piece where he talks training himself to leave his hands down until the last possible second before flashing them out and intersecting with the ball. A) keeps defenders away from being able to swat his hands at the catch point B) the constant movement means he's never waiting for the ball to get in and getting off by half an inch trying to hold steady

That's interesting insight

[Pac_Eddy]

It's interesting as I think Stefon Diggs is an excellent WR but how do you NOT throw at Thielen all day when he's playing this well?

Diggs numbers will be down for awhile. If he were the clear #1, he'd be much better for fantasy football.

[Cameron Giles]

It's interesting as I think Stefon Diggs is an excellent WR but how do you NOT throw at Thielen all day when he's playing this well?

Diggs numbers will be down for awhile. If he were the clear #1, he'd be much better for fantasy football.

Diggs was targeted more yesterday, but Thielen usually sees better matchups since he plays in the slot where there aren't as many good CBs.

[Valhalla]

It's interesting as I think Stefon Diggs is an excellent WR but how do you NOT throw at Thielen all day when he's playing this well?

Diggs numbers will be down for awhile. If he were the clear #1, he'd be much better for fantasy football.

Diggs was targeted more yesterday, but Thielen usually sees better matchups since he plays in the slot where there aren't as many good CBs.

Diggs draws coverage, but it's not like Thielen doesn't. He saw a good share of double coverage yesterday. It didn't matter.

There were a few screen pass targets in there, and a lot of quick hitting, Diggs designed passes, overall. He's being deliberately fed opportunity, too.

[Cameron Giles]

It's interesting as I think Stefon Diggs is an excellent WR but how do you NOT throw at Thielen all day when he's playing this well?

Diggs numbers will be down for awhile. If he were the clear #1, he'd be much better for fantasy football.

Diggs was targeted more yesterday, but Thielen usually sees better matchups since he plays in the slot where there aren't as many good CBs.

Diggs draws coverage, but it's not like Thielen doesn't. He saw a good share of double coverage yesterday. It didn't matter.

There were a few screen pass targets in there, and a lot of quick hitting, Diggs designed passes, overall. He's being deliberately fed opportunity, too.

Definitely, not saying the defense ignores Thielen. Just saying that it's harder to cover players in the slot where there really aren't as many Pro Bowl-talented options.

[Valhalla]

Diggs was targeted more yesterday, but Thielen usually sees better matchups since he plays in the slot where there aren't as many good CBs.

Diggs draws coverage, but it's not like Thielen doesn't. He saw a good share of double coverage yesterday. It didn't matter.

There were a few screen pass targets in there, and a lot of quick hitting, Diggs designed passes, overall. He's being deliberately fed opportunity, too.

Definitely, not saying the defense ignores Thielen. Just saying that it's harder to cover players in the slot where there really aren't as many Pro Bowl-talented options.

That's true, but it doesn't mean the value can't be sustained, or that it's likely to go up in smoke because teams will adjust.

Thielen has seen 48.7% of his snaps from the slot this year.
Keenan Allen is at 44.9
Baldwin (small sample) 61.2%
Edelman (small sample) 48.3%
Landry 62.6%
Woods 40.1%
Fitzgerald 66.8%
Tate 69%

All guys that typically run a lot of slot and have shown to be stable production over years of time.


Heck Juju is at 70.7% and people are falling over themselves to find a way to get him for his long-term value. The dominant up-and-comer Tyler Boyd is at 69.2%. Kupp is at 73.2% It's crazy Kupp and Woods are both so high but that has to do with total snap share/them not always being on the field at the same time.

All stats from PlayerProfiler as of 10-22-18

[jcc6fd]

I don’t watch Vikings games. What’s happening to Thielen? Is it him, Cousins, or something else?

[AlPal&Ange]

I don’t watch Vikings games. What’s happening to Thielen? Is it him, Cousins, or something else?

Cousins, OL, Scheme... I don't get the Defillipo hype.

[jimmychoi]

I don’t watch Vikings games. What’s happening to Thielen? Is it him, Cousins, or something else?

Both main receivers have been open in spots but Cousins, playcalling, and OL kind of a mess. My heart stopped for a second when he went down with leg injury, but he seems to be back up and looking to go out there. Had a nice run called back on a Diggs holding as well.

I just hope I don’t have to hear Bobby Wagner mic’d up again anytime soon. Ha

[jimmychoi]

Plus cousins missed him open in end zone

[Friction]

Hopefully the offense takes it out on the Fins next week. Need Theilen to bounce back big time.

[Pac_Eddy]

Hopefully the offense takes it out on the Fins next week. Need Theilen to bounce back big time.

Man, the defense is playing lights out. Held Brees to 120 pass yards a few weeks ago, held Wilson to 72 yards, no TDs, 1 pick last nite.

But the offense is the exact opposite. I think it's mostly the o-line. Dalvin looks good but has to create his own space. Diggs & Thielen are elite. Cousins isn't elite, but he's far better than average, he's under constant pressure & can't get into any rhythm against decent teams.

I think the Vikings will roll next week vs the Dolphins, but they're an average team with that offense.

[Space Cowboy]

Amazing how it took the all mighty Patriots to figure out the best way to defense the Vikings is to double both WRs. Who woulda thought??

[Jfever]

Man... it doesn't surprise me that Flip got the axe. If your two #1 wr (Diggs and Thielen) are doubled, there is no excuse to not utilize your 3rd, 4th, and 5th options more and exploit weaknesses / holes in the opposing defense. Rudolph, Cook, and Treadwell should have each had big games. The play calling is / was as unimaginative as I have ever seen when considering the skilled position talent. The inability to adjust from game to game or even within a game just never materialized. I'll concede, that the offensive line weakness makes much of this more difficult but, the offense as a whole, needed a strong message sent. Firing Flip is / was that message. We will see if it resonates when the Vikings host Miami.