Welcome to Life without “The Magnet”
Asked about playing the rest of the regular season without Pro Bowl wide receiver Adam Thielen on Wednesday, Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook replied:
“We’re going to miss him a lot in the red zone. He’s a magnet when we get down there.”
Thielen hadn’t previously been coined The Magnet by anybody, but when Cook tosses the moniker out there – it sticks.
Against the Detroit Lions in Week 13, Thielen was injured with a high ankle sprain, missing the next two games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears. Minnesota won both contests.
Thielen battled back, though, playing last weekend versus the Los Angeles Rams. He was hurt again – this time requiring surgery on the ankle and ending Thielen’s regular season.
The only way Thielen could return is if the Vikings [somehow] conduct an unforeseen sprint to the NFC Championship as road warriors.
And that’s if Minnesota gets into the playoffs at all. As of December 30th, the Vikings have an 11% chance to reach the postseason per FiveThirtyEight.com. The Vikings must win their final two games against the Packers and Bears while requiring one loss apiece from the Eagles and Saints. Then, they’d be granted entry into the postseason, presumably a road date with the Cowboys, Buccaneers, Packers.
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On the new nickname from Cook – The Magnet – it checks out. Since the start of 2020, Thielen has captured 20 redzone touchdown receptions. That is – in 71% of games he’s played amid the last two seasons, Thielen scored a redzone touchdown. Wowzers. Only Davante Adams – who plays the Vikings this Sunday – has more such scores than Thielen.
And then overall, Thielen is second in the NFL for receiving touchdowns per game since 2019 with 0.789. He scores about 79% of the time when the Vikings throw their helmets on. The only player ahead of Thielen per receiving touchdowns per game is – you guessed it – Davante Adams. Not far behind Adams and Thielen are Mike Evans (0.744 TD per game) and Tyreek Hill (0.738 TD per game).
Out of nowhere, Thielen morphed into a touchdown machine. Early in his career – when folks tried to determine if his stardom was too good to be true – Thielen was heavy on yards and lagged in touchdowns. Somewhere in the 2018 season, with the addition of Kirk Cousins, Thielen’s statistical production flipped. He’s now a merchant of touchdowns with a side dish of yards.
That’s probably why Cook slapped the term magnet to his name.
Do you wonder why the Vikings redzone proficiency floundered in the last few games? Easy. No Thielen. In tandem with Cousins’ accuracy, Thielen is the straw that stirs the drink in the redzone – kind of like Kyle Rudolph used to be for Minnesota.
So, per Cook’s “we’re going to miss him” musings, the Vikings must find ways to replace The Magnet inside the 20-yardline.
Otherwise, the Packers will flog the Vikings, and the season will be over-over.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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