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Coming off the major first injury of his career in 2019, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen quietly resurfaced as one of the league’s most respected players at his position last year.
Thielen, who missed six games in 2019 with a hamstring injury, caught 14 touchdowns in 2020 — the third-most by receiver behind only Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams.
His 2020 performance landed him at No. 80 on NFL Network’s “Top 100 Players of 2021,” an annual list of the league’s best 100 active players that’s compiled with votes from players. Thielen did not make the list in 2020 but was ranked 36th and 33rd in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
One of the league’s top cornerbacks in Indianapolis Colts veteran Kenny Moore II offered an honest take on why Thielen is deserving of the recognition.
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‘Honestly, He Stresses Me Out’
NFL Network gathered testimonies for each player featured on the list. Moore, who graded as the 16th best cornerback by Pro Football Focus last season, was featured in Thielen’s video package and shared his thoughts from playing Thielen in Week 3 last year.
“He’s very crafty of a receiver. Honestly, he stresses me out,” Moore said. “Everybody can’t do that… having a good release, good stem, good body movement and body control, and being able to catch the ball, too. He’s able to do all of that at once.
“They move him around a lot,” Moore added. “They know how to use him and get him the ball.”
Thielen Shines in Red Zone
Thielen emerged as the Vikings’ No. 1 red-zone weapon, catching 13 of his 14 touchdowns from inside the 20-yard line last season.
Thielen managed to secure 17 of 23 targets in the red zone, even in the tightest coverage, per NFL Savant.
“What really makes him great are the catches he makes when someone is on him,” said Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons. “I can remember watching Adam Thielen, and it seemed like every other week someone had tight coverage on him and he was still able to make a ridiculous catch.”
Thielen’s two most notable catches came against the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys.
Notice the flip of the ball to secure it at the last second…
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Thielen Feeling Better Than Ever
A week away from his 31st birthday, Thielen proved skeptics wrong last season by remaining an impact player in Minnesota’s offense despite being over-the-hill.
Coming off his hamstring injury, Thielen completely reconstructed his diet and workout routine. It worked wonders for the Minnesota native.
“I kind of stepped back and just addressed my nutrition, strength training, performance, all that,” Thielen said. “Just kind of looked at it from an outside perspective and tried to figure out what I could do better, what I was doing well from a recovery standpoint.”
Thielen enters his ninth NFL season only eight scores away from having the most TDs of any Vikings wide receiver in their 30s other than Cris Carter.
Carter had a scoring renaissance once he reached the age of 30. He scored a career-high 17 touchdowns in 1995 and posted double-digit TDs for the next four seasons — a trend Thielen would like to emulate.
“I’m not joking when I say this is the best I’ve ever felt in my entire life,” he said. “I feel better right now than I did in college. I don’t really want to change anything; as of right now, I feel like I have a pretty good plan to handle recovery, nutrition, performance, and all that.”
