WR Adam Thielen - Minnesota Vikings

6-3, 200

Born: 8-22-1990

College: Minnesota State

Drafted: ---

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Thielen's Week 14 status is uncertain

News you need to know

General News (Thu Dec 5): did not practice on Thursday.

General News (Wed Dec 4): did not practice on Wednesday.

Week 14: vs Detroit Lions

All WR vs DET

FBG says: Good matchup. Although the Minnesota Vikings struggled through the air last Monday night, they remain one of the NFL's most efficient passing attacks in spite of their low volume. Considering the Vikings have one of the league's most run-heavy offenses, Kirk Cousins has been extremely impressive in his little action airing the ball out, especially when his receiving corps is at full-strength. The Vikings have been without Adam Thielen in recent weeks, as he recovers from a hamstring injury that has hampered him for the better part of two months, which has lead to increased volume for Stefon Diggs and Kyle Rudolph through the air. Diggs' increased volume has not directly translated into production in recent weeks, but his underlying metrics are promising, and he should see significant improvement in the near future. Kyle Rudolph, although an afterthought early in the season, is finally making his presence felt, especially around the end zone, with at least five targets and a touchdown in five out of his last six games. Should Thielen return to action in Week 14, the overall efficiency of this unit should spike back up to near-league-high levels; however, the target totals for players like Diggs and Rudolph may decrease slightly to make room for the top-end pass-catcher. Detroit's pass defense has defended the seventh-most pass attempts this season, allowing stunningly-high efficiency totals through the air. The Lions have allowed the 3rd-most passing yards this season, while also permitting a 25-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio, one of the league's worst. They have allowed multiple touchdown passes in 9 out of 12 games this season, including a 338-yard and 3-touchdown performance to Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears' struggling passing-attack last week. The Detroit pass defense is one of the league's worst from top-to-bottom, with only one significant play-maker taking the field regularly. Trey Flowers, the team's marquee offseason signing, has recently found a groove pressuring opposing quarterbacks, with five sacks in his last five games. Unfortunately, Flowers has received little support elsewhere, as many of the team's previously-strong pass-defenders have seen their production tail off in 2019. Darius Slay, a cornerback that was previously hailed as one of the league's best coverage players, has fallen off significantly this season, with his reputation far exceeding his on-field production. Overall, the Lions' pass defense is one of the league's worst, and in a tough matchup against the Vikings' strong passing attack, they should be overmatched in Week 14. Expect Kirk Cousins and company to get back on track after a poor showing on Monday Night Football last week, as they should shred the Lions through the air this weekend.

Recent Stats and Projections

WEEK	OPP		oSNAP	YD	TD	TARG	REC	YD	TD	FumL	Pts
11	vs DEN		0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
13	at SEA		0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
14	vs DET	PROJ-Dodds	*	*	*		4.0	*	*	*	*
14	vs DET	PROJ-Tremblay	*	*	*		1.3	*	*	*	*
14	vs DET	PROJ-Bloom	*	*	*		0.0	*	*	*	*

Weekly Performance vs WR 1, WR 12, WR 24, WR 36

Percentile ranks

Adam Thielen's percentile rank in each category, among WR with more than 50 fantasy points.

Recent Game Summaries

2019 Week 13 vs SEA (0 / 0 / 0 / 0 rec)

Despite practicing as recently as Saturday, Thielen was held out again this week with the same hamstring injury that has kept him out for 3 games and through the Vikings Bye week. What is more concerning is that he did not even travel with the team to Seattle. Thielen suffered a setback with his hamstring early in the week during practice and was held out after having 2 limited sessions to close the week. Thielen has said he will not come back until he feels 100% healthy and able to give everything he has to the offense.

2019 Week 11 vs DEN (0 / 0 / 0 / 0 rec)

Thielen did not practice at all this week and it was almost a guarantee he was not going to play against the Broncos with his hamstring injury. The Vikings were about to head into their Bye week and a week off here would have allowed Thielen to rest all the way until 12/2 and the Vikings Monday Night Football game against Seattle. The Vikings have a tough stretch to close out the season and need a healthy Thielen to make the playoff push.

2019 Week 9 vs KC (1 / 0 / 0 / 0 rec)

It was not the return that many had hoped for Thielen. He was targeted a single time on the opening offensive drive and then left after re-aggravating his hamstring injury. Thielen could be seen on the sideline testing out that injured leg, but never felt confident enough to come back into the game. All of the stars for the Vikings struggled this week and Thielen not being on the field made things that much more difficult.

2019 Week 7 vs DET (2 / 1 / 25 / 1 rec)

Everything was looking good this week for Thielen and Cousins. They were coming off back to back good games and started this week off with a 25-yard touchdown connection. Unfortunately, Thielen was injured on the play and did not return to the game. It has been ruled a hamstring injury and could hamper him for the next few weeks. Thielen ran a deep drag route after coming all the way across the field in motion for Cousins to check the defensive coverage. Cousins saw it was zone coverage and rolled to his left long enough for Thielen to beat his man and catch the ball in the back of the end zone. Thielen got 2 feet down and injured his leg as he was sliding out of the back of the end zone. No timetable has been set on the injury, but this was his last play of the game this week.

2019 Week 6 vs PHI (8 / 6 / 57 / 1 rec, 1 / 0 / 0 rush)

Cousins and Thielen picked up where they left off last season on the first drive of the game. The Vikings marched 70 yards down the field and Thielen caught a 6-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone. It was a beautifully thrown fade that Thielen ran under and tapped his toes for the score. The duo added a 20-yard connection later in the game and connected on 6 of 8 passes. Thielen was the main beneficiary last week and saw that role go to Diggs this week. Cousins worked hard to repair the relationship with Thielen last week and continued that this week to a lesser extent. Thielen will have a tough matchup next week against Darius Slay and the Lions.

2019 Week 5 vs NYG (8 / 7 / 130 / 2 rec)

Everything finally seems right with Cousins and Thielen after an interesting week in Minnesota. Thielen seemed to call out Cousins after the loss last week and Cousins proceeded to apologize on his radio show and promise to be better. The pair turned that into a 100-yard receiving day and 2 touchdowns. The first touchdown was a beautiful 15-yard back-shoulder fade to Thielen in the end zone. The ball threw him open as Thielen did not have much separation from his defender and he had to make the catch as he was falling to the ground. Thielen was the second option on the play after Cousins looked across the middle first and it showed a level of chemistry that has been missing all season. His second touchdown was a circus catch in the back of the end zone. Cousins let loose a high 9-yard pass that Thielen had to go up and get for the score. The pass was high to get up and over the linebacker in the middle of the field and Thielen had enough room in the back of the end zone to complete the catch. Thielen also accounted for the longest play of the game for either team on his 44-yard reception. Thielen set season highs for catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns this week. This game will go a long way to repairing the relationship between Cousins and Thielen and now they will just have to work on getting Diggs back into the mix.

2019 Week 4 vs CHI (6 / 2 / 6 / 0 rec)

After getting off to a great start last season, Thielen has seen a steep decline this year. There looks to be no chemistry with Cousins now and every pass that comes his way seems to be off the mark. Thielen caught 2 of his 6 targets this week and found himself venting to the media after the game. Cousins missed Thielen up the seam for what should have been an easy touchdown after he beat his man. The ball was thrown 5 yards too far down the field despite Thielen having more than 2 yards of a cushion on his defender. This was a throw that any quarterback in the NFL should be able to make. Thielen came into the year talking about being a team player and wanting to win over personal stats. This philosophy may go out the window if the offense continues to struggle the way it has.

2019 Week 3 vs OAK (5 / 3 / 55 / 1 rec, 1 / 1 / 1 rush)

One of the few things going right for Minnesota's receiving core is Thielen. HE continues to make plays through the air and even chipped in one on the ground this week. Thielen has yet to surpass the 100-yard mark through the air this season but has made several big plays. He hauled in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Cousins on a play action boot play where Cousins threw back across the field to Thielen who had run a deep drag pattern. Thielen simply out ran his defender in coverage and Cousins put the ball out in front of him so he could run it in for the score. The 35 yards accounted for 2/3 of his total yardage through the air and was the first touchdown of the game for the Vikings. He added a 1-yard touchdown run off the right end on a jet sweep for the third touchdown of the game for his only carry of the game. Thielen is doing everything from catching passes and throwing blocks down the field to now running in touchdowns on the ground. The yardage numbers from last season may not be there, but he is doing a great job finding the end zone so far this year.

2019 Week 2 vs GB (8 / 5 / 75 / 0 rec)

It is hard being a receiver when your quarterback cannot seem to hit the broad side of a barn. Thielen made the best of his situation this week and caught 5 of his 8 targets. Every catch seemed to be contested or thrown just a little behind or too far in front of him this week. Thielen had a single big play with a 30-yard catch and run down the sideline, but he also had to make a play on an overthrown ball by Cousins that was almost intercepted. Thielen is not enjoying the same success that he had the beginning of last season and did not continue the streak of 100 yards and a touchdown against the Packers he had in both games last season. Thielen continues to stress that he is not worried about personal numbers as long as the team is winning, but that may change if Cousins continues to struggle under center.

2019 Week 1 vs ATL (3 / 3 / 43 / 1 rec)

After reeling off 8 straight games with 100 yards to start the year last season, Thielen had a much quieter debut this year. Thielen caught all 3 of his targets this week and added the only touchdown through the air. It was a beautiful 23-yard deep crossing route where Cousins threw him open and Thielen did the rest of the work after the catch. He turned the ball up field, out ran his defender, and then ran over 2 more at the goal line for the touchdown. Thielen came into the season saying he did not care about personal stats and just wanted to see the team win. He showed this later by throwing the key block on a Dalvin Cook rushing touchdown later in the game. There will be games where Thielen is targeted 10+ times, but this week they just did not have to rely on him at all with how well the rushing attack worked.

Latest News

Vikings | Adam Thielen not ruled out yet (Thu Dec 5, 08:17 PM) - Minnesota Vikings WR Adam Thielen (hamstring) has a decent chance to play in the Week 14 game, according to head coach Mike Zimmer.

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Vikings | Adam Thielen still not practicing (Thu Dec 5, 01:53 PM) - Minnesota Vikings WR Adam Thielen (hamstring) was held out of practice Thursday, Dec. 5.

Our View: It's trending for another missed game here. Thielen's hamstring needs more time to heal as the Vikings try to make that push here at the end of the regular season.
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Vikings | Adam Thielen listed as DNP (Wed Dec 4, 04:46 PM) - Minnesota Vikings WR Adam Thielen (hamstring) was listed as a non-participant on the estimated injury report for Wednesday, Dec. 4.

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Vikings | Week 13 Minnesota Vikings inactives (Mon Dec 2, 06:52 PM) - The Minnesota Vikings have declared WR Adam Thielen, LB Cameron Smith, DE Hercules Mata'afa, OT Aviante Collins, DE Jalyn Holmes, OL Olisaemeka Udoh and OG Dru Samia inactive for Week 13.

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Vikings | Adam Thielen to miss Week 13 (Sun Dec 1, 02:51 PM) - Minnesota Vikings WR Adam Thielen (hamstring) has been ruled out for the Week 13 game.

Our View: Olabisi Johnson will get the start in his place and the Vikings tight ends become better plays although Kirk Cousins outlook takes a hit. There's still time to get your late game options in over Thielen.
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