The Vikings will be asking a lot of Adam Thielen in 2020.
The team traded Stefon Diggs, leaving Thielen as the guy next season.
This comes after Thielen had an injury-riddled 2019 campaign. However, in the two seasons prior, Thielen combined for 204 catches, 2,649 yards and 13 touchdowns.
In Pro Football Focus’ pre-2020 wide receiving rankings, Thielen came in at 14. The ranking seems like a blend of what we’ve seen from Thielen while keeping last season in the back of our minds.
Here’s what Anthony Treash wrote about Thielen:
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.
I would imagine Thielen is in for a big season. He’ll be hungry to rebound from a tough 2019 season and will receive plenty of targets from Kirk Cousins.
For what it’s worth, Diggs ranks No. 12 on the list.
You can view the full rankings here.