Thielen vs. Diggs- 2020 PFF Rankings Style
Joe Johnson
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In my last article about now former Minnesota Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs (which apparently struck a chord as it still is getting about 100 clicks an hour) I said that I hoped that I could stop covering his nonsense until my ‘I told you/him so!’ article in… 18 or so months when he forces his way out of Buffalo.
I made it just about 72 hours!
Which, I’m proud of.
Thankfully this article is less about Diggs twisting the knife, STILL, and more about statistical analysis from our friends over at Pro Football Focus. While that can be dry, the reality is that now that my anger is abating it is hitting me that Diggs is actually gone.
As we know as Vikings fans, and as this list shows, losing Diggs is a monumental loss in general but especially for a team that will rely on its offense more than it ever has under head coach Mike Zimmer.
Without further ado, lets take a look at their 2020 receiver rankings.
The top ten is to be expected, and also shows (partially) why people over at lines.com are picking Tampa Bay to contend for the NFC title. With two receivers in the top ten and Tom Brady slangin’ dat rock (was that cool? Am I cool?), it’ll be hard to slow down the Bucs on offense.
Davante Adams at six might rile some Packers fans, who claim he is a top three receiver, but we should be able to see if he’s a super talented receiver who is also the product of Aaron Rodgers’ (one time) greatness once things implode in Green Bay around Week… 12 this season and Rodgers is replaced by Packers first round pick and reason for Rodgers’ new found alcoholism, Jordan Love.
Now for the red meat!
Keep in mind that these rankings are solely based on statistics. Which is my way of prefacing the fact that Diggs bested Thielen in the rankings and also me pointing out that they aren’t taking into account things like Diggs’ behavior as it has yet to impact his output on the field (which you’d think was on the level of Antonio Brown considering the contract the Vikings gave him, his frustration at nothing and the fact that he clearly copied Brown’s social media plan as they both forced their way out of their respective teams and, in the case of one (for now) of them, the league).
Of Diggs, PFF’s Anthony Treash says:
12. STEFON DIGGS, BUFFALO BILLS
Buffalo’s receiving unit got a big boost with the addition of Diggs’ savvy route running and strong play on contested balls. His 58% contested catch rate over the past three years ranks second in the NFL, and his 119.1 passer rating generated on said targets is by far the best. While John Brown and Cole Beasley are good receiving options who help form a top-five receiving unit in the NFL, that’s an area they massively struggled in. Diggs can’t fix Josh Allen‘s downfield accuracy issues, but he’ll certainly do his part if delivered a catchable ball.
If delivered a catchable ball.
That’s a huge if, considering that Josh Allen could be the worst starting quarterback to pair with Diggs’ skillset. While the Bills did offer the Vikings a King’s ransom, it feels as if the powers that be in Eagan almost did this on purpose. Again, I give it 18 months.
What about Thielen? Who had Washington’s Terry Mclaurin between himself and his former BFF?
14. ADAM THIELEN, MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Thielen had a down year in 2019 as he battled injuries throughout. He still earned a respectable 78.0 receiving grade that ranked 22nd at the position, but it was far from his 2018 effort when he produced a seventh-ranked grade of 89.4. Thielen’s releases are still some of the best you’ll see, and he can separate against the best of them. In 2018, Thielen had the fourth-highest separation rate (step or more) against single coverage, at 65% — over 20 percentage points higher than the NFL average.
There you have it.
Essentially, had Thielen not been injured for the majority of 2019, he would’ve bested Diggs in these rankings. The real question that matters for the future of the Vikings is how quickly the young receivers playing next to Thielen will be able to acclimate to the NFL.
Thielen doesn’t get enough credit for what he has done out of the slot, as I’d argue he is the best slot receiver in the NFL in the past decade.
When you hear great slot receiver you’ll probably think of Wes Welker, who made the position of slot receiver a focal point for NFL teams and fans during his time in New England.
PFF talked about Thielen’s slot success in another article, and said the following:
In 2017 and 2018 combined, Thielen took 52.7% of his snaps from the slot — a marked difference from his early years. His seamless progression is almost unfathomable — he racked up more than 700 yards and seven touchdowns in 2018 from the inside (his first season taking more than 50 percent of his snaps from the slot), a feat Wes Welker accomplished just once in his 12-year career.
Assuming Thielen stays healthy in 2020, hopefully his slot output isn’t hurt by the slot work done by rookie first-round pick Justin Jefferson, or rookie KJ Osborn, both of which either primarily worked out of the slot (JJets) or are pegged as a slot receiver and returner (KJ).
Then there is the possibility of the second coming of my personal lord and savior, MoBo.
Quick side note (two stories for the price of and patience for one!): I actually spoke with then Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner the morning after the team had drafted Laquon Treadwell at KFAN’s Friday Football Feast at Buffalo Wild Wings in Edina.
Treadwell Photo
Norv Turner Photo
That’s me on the left, not Brad Pitt from around the ‘Legends of the Fall’ era.
When that picture was taken for some reason the person taking it was having trouble operating my iPhone, and so it took long enough for Turner to get irritated.
So I decided to make some small talk and brought up my love for Moritz Boehringer and said that they should draft him that MoBo had the best measurables of any receiver since 1999.
Turner said, and I poop you not, “Really? I might have to look into that… Stay tuned” and he winked at me, which is why I look like I’m blushing in the above photo (not because I’m in terrible shape and the idea of standing upright was a shock to my cardiovascular system).
There you have it. I’m responsible for MoBo’s Vikings career, and also completely biased in my covering of said career (past and hopefully, future?).