Minnesota is coming off a season where it went to the playoffs, and if the team wants to prevent any regression, it will have to rely on Adam Thielen on offense.
Thielen led the Vikings in receiving yards from 2016-18, but then he went through a 2019 season that was marred by a hamstring injury.
Will Thielen be the player he was once, or will he face a down year after recovering from an injury? It’s hard to say right now.
FoxBet.com gave insight into some of Thielen’s projected numbers for 2020. Here are some over-under totals for Thielen. Vikings Wire breaks those down and addresses whether Thielen can get close to those stats or not.
Pick: Over 1199.5 receiving yards
This will be a pretty big decider into how good the Vikings offense will be in 2020.
Stefon Diggs was the team’s leading receiver in 2019 with 1,130 yards in that category. Now that Diggs is gone, Thielen will have to match that production and then some in order for the Vikings to progress in the passing game.
I think it’s possible that Thielen can get to 1,200 yards, especially if the Vikings are playing for a playoff berth in the final games of the season.
To do so, Kirk Cousins will really have to throw him the ball, which leads me to my next pick…
Pick: Over 84.5 receptions
At least 85 receptions is a lot. I think Thielen could possibly do it, though.
Even if Thielen doesn’t perform well, Minnesota will almost have no choice but to try and get him the ball, in order to get something going.
Thielen had more than 90 receptions in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, he had just 30, but that’s pretty good, considering he was only targeted 48 times and played in just 10 regular-season games.
I think with Diggs leaving and Thielen being the now-definitive wide receiver one, there’s a chance Thielen could get to that total, so long as he stays healthy.
Pick: Over 7.5 touchdowns
This pick was really tough. Even when Thielen had more than 1,200 yards in 2017, he still only had four touchdowns.
Looking at it a different way, however, Thielen got to six touchdown catches in the regular season in 2019, when he only played in 10 games.
Gary Kubiak will likely run an offensive scheme that emphasizes running the ball. It’s hard to say whether Thielen gets to eight touchdown catches, but if Cousins relies heavily on him, there’s always a chance.
