Vikings Should Have Thielen Replacement on the Brain
With an offense-first brain in the saddle after the hire of Kevin O’Connell, the Minnesota Vikings should be in marvelous shape to score points in 2022.
The team rosters players like Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Irv Smith Jr., and Kirk Cousins, so the offensive depth chart is set up to succeed.
However, the long-game acumen will be put to the test for new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah regarding Adam Thielen. Make no mistake — Thielen is wonderful, reliable, and productive. In no way, shape, or form should the Vikings plan to ixnay his services in 2022 or 2023. In fact, Vikings ownership has even reportedly consulted the wide receiver every step of the way during the transition away from Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer.
But Thielen will be 32 years old this summer, requiring the team to examine the future of the WR2 position — not just 2022 alone. Minnesota need not worry about “what do to” at WR2 for 2022, but long-term planning should be on its mind.
With an interesting career trajectory shift, Thielen morphed from a player who accrued oodles of receiving yards but not many touchdowns (2014-2018) to a stacker of touchdowns with a lesser emphasis on yards (2019-2021). And no one really has any qualms with that.
Yet, Thielen has not posted a 1,000-yard receiving season since Kirk Cousins’ first year with the team. It’s been four years. That statistic may be surprising, but it is true. Thielen was injured in 2019 and 2021 and didn’t get over the 1,000-yard hump in 2020, although he likely would have if a game missed to COVID didn’t occur.
This is what happens to aging wide receivers. They slow down, gradually — injuries and age.
Of course, with O’Connell’s new offense, Thielen could theoretically encounter a career renaissance and absolutely thrive as the defense-first cloud of Zimmer subsides. For a 32-year-old wide receiver, though, that becomes less likely by the year.
VikingsTerritory doesn’t endorse a wide receiver for Minnesota in the draft at #12 — the franchise needs defenders like cornerbacks and EDGE rushers — but these are the names to monitor in April if the Vikings seek to plan for life after Thielen:
- Treylon Burks (Arkansas)
- Drake London (USC)
- Chris Olave (Ohio State)
- Jameson Williams (Alabama)
- Garrett Wilson (Ohio State)
And from Randy Moss, Percy Harvin, to Justin Jefferson, the Vikings have a dazzling track record for drafting wide receivers.
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Selecting one early in the 2022 NFL Draft is probably a longshot. But based on the history of wide receivers declining in their 30s, plus Thielen’s already-evident production drop-off via yards — it’s time to imagine life without Thielen. It’s on the way.
Perhaps K.J. Osborn will bust out to true WR2 legitimacy and make this easier on everyone.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. His YouTube Channel, VikesNow, debuts in March 2022. 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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