The quarterback wasn't doing well. KirkCousins stepped up in the pocket as the Vikings pass rush bore down during a red zone drill. The man knew where to look when he was sacked. The receiver ran across the back of the end zone, ahead of the defensive back.
As he has done many times in the past,Cousins threw the ball in the direction of Thielen, who caught it and ran for a touchdown. Since the arrival of teammate Justin Jefferson in 2020, the improvised connection was a reminder of the wild career turn of the man.
Even though his targets have dropped, his scoring totals have gone up. Since the start of the 2020 season, only Davante Adams and Mike Evans have caught more touchdown passes than the Vikings wide receiver. During his first six seasons, the surge nearly matched the totals of Thielen.
He has amassed 312.2 fantasy points in non-PPR scoring, even though he is ranked 29th in total targets. As Jefferson emerged as the top young receiver in the league, he found a niche that matches his skills.
You can always count on @athielen19 🙌 pic.twitter.com/wgIV5HD8S7
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) August 2, 2022
He's always been strong with the ball. He has good body control and he plays big. He is big and strong. In the red zone, in tight windows, and in tight coverage.
An NFL Next Gen Stats analysis of a player's ability to make lower-probability catches ranked him third in the league. It's not safe to assume that a veteran player's success will survive a coaching change.
He will be 32 later this month. Over the past three years, he has missed 11 games because of injuries. His contract doesn't have a guaranteed amount of money left after this season.
The third receiver, K.J. Osborn, is having a great training camp. Irv Smith Jr.'s recent thumb surgery hasn't diminished excitement about his upcoming contribution. Kevin O'Connell has embraced the ways in which Thielen can excel in his scheme and he has been willing to point out plays that worked well in the past. The Vikings are doing everything they can to keep the scoring connection going.
The feedback is the cool part. "He's able to talk to me about, 'I know we're coaching this like this, but have you thought about this route stem or this top of the route?' and that's where sometimes you say to yourself, 'Thank goodness we have players like that' What you say is better than what I say. Let's do it like that. We are going to follow my way. We have that discussion.
He saw 9.16 targets per game when he was producing 1,000 yards in two straight seasons. The number has been lower since the beginning of the 2020 season.
The red zone targets have increased slightly, from 1.06 in the previous year to 1.18 in 2020.
The adjustment to O'Connell's process-over-outcome approach has led to some quick progress, despite the initial shock.
It sometimes feels awkward. Is he not going to hurt us? What is happening here? It doesn't have anything to do with the old coaching staff. It's been that way for my entire life, from high school to college to the first year in the NFL. It's different but exciting because now we can teach there. We can learn new things. It's okay if we do some things wrong, but we should focus on the process.
He knows he's at the back of his career. You could count the number of receivers on one hand if they were at least 32 years old and had caught at least 40 passes in the previous year. None of them scored a lot of points.
"I don't have a lot of time left in my career, so I think there's a sense of desperation," he added. We have a great team. There is a great culture in us. There are great coaches in our area. You don't want to lose the site of the day-to-day mindset that the coaching staff has created.
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