Adam Thielen Fantasy News and Statistics

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen’s road to the NFL never went too far from home. After all, he was an All-State high school football player in the Land of 10,000 Lakes prior to his college football career at Minnesota State.

Since Thielen had excelled in-state prior to going to a college in Minnesota, he was in a good position to earn some playing time his freshman year. Ultimately, however, he was redshirted. But he enjoyed four years as an impact player for the Division II program.

Working his way into the regular mix, Thielen had 21 catches for over 200 yards in nine games as a redshirt freshman. He was then able to rise on the depth chart as a redshirt sophomore with some of the upperclassmen who previously blocked him no longer in the program. Since he averaged 16.7 yards per catch as a redshirt sophomore, he became his team’s primary wide receiver and punt returner as well.

Between his junior and senior years, Thielen had nearly 2,000 receiving yards and made 13 touchdown grabs. The best performance of his career came in his final year against Southwest Minnesota State when he had 167 yards. In addition to his receiving duties, Thielen also averaged 10 yards per punt return on 46 touches.

With his 4.45 speed, Thielen impressed at regional combines but not enough to be selected in the 2013 NFL Draft. Instead, he was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Minnesota Vikings in a low-risk deal. It is safe to say it is a move the Vikes do not regret one bit, even if he did spend his entire rookie season on their practice squad and not on the active roster.

Initially, Thielen cracked the Vikings roster in 2014 for his ability on special teams. He recorded more tackles (12) than receptions (eight). Even so, he did have three catches on three targets for 68 yards and a touchdown during the final game of the regular season

Once again, he was primarily a special teamer in 2015, but he did have six catches for 70 yards against the Denver Broncos in October. The following year, however, an injury to Stefon Diggs in the preseason allowed Thielen to earn a job with the starting 11 on offense, and he capitalized on the opportunity.

In 2016, Thielen was targeted 92 times and had 69 catches (75 percent catch rate) for 967 yards (14.0 yards per grab) and five touchdowns. Even when Diggs came back, he was still a regular in the team’s offense. In fact, his best performance of the season came with Diggs healthy; Thielen had 12 catches for 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers in December.

Heading into the 2017 campaign, it appears as though he will be Minnesota’s go-to slot receiver. Given his high catch rate, it could be a role he thrives in with more experience. He likely won’t have a breakout year, however, since the Vikings also have Diggs and tight end Kyle Rudolph. Plus, quarterback Sam Bradford likely won’t complete 71.6 percent of his passes again in 2017.