jbusse
Posts: 1309
Joined: 9/11/2013
From: Atlanta, GA
Status: offline
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ORIGINAL: Jeff Jesser quote:
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ORIGINAL: Ricky J And so it begins ... Andrew Krammer @Andrew_Krammer · 15m Justin Jefferson grins, saying he needs some of Adam Thielen's "share" in the end zone as his teammate has 18 TDs in his last 18 games. Remember when everyone was talking about how they loved what Diggs had to say in his infancy? The follow up: Strib: The Vikings receiver [Theilen] leads the NFL in red-zone touchdowns since the 2019 season, with 19. Since the beginning of 2019, Thielen and the Packers' Davante Adams are tied for the most receiving touchdowns in the league. Both have 24 scores in that time, and both have done it by connecting with their quarterbacks in the red zone: Thielen has 19 touchdowns inside opponents' 20-yard lines, and Adams has 18. A true success story. The fact that it took him three years to get a full allotment of opportunities as a receiver makes one wonder whether it truly took him that long to develop into an NFL caliber WR or whether the Vikings misjudged how talented he was during those first few years. You have to give the Vikings credit for seeing enough talent to sign him as an UDFA, but still why did it take him so long to crack the WR lineup on a regular basis? It's not as though the Vikings had a surfeit of WR talent during those early years. Not a lot of people have had as many stereotypes working against them as AT has had ... there's that theory JMO but it's not as egregious as you would think when you look at the roster at the time. In his rookie year we had Jennings and Simpson (and remember that Simpson was a human highlight real, so we all thought). The next 2 years he was battling drafted guys like Wright and Patterson along with the "home runs" we tried to bring in like Charles Johnson and Mike Wallace. They were throwing a lot of shit at that wall hoping for it to stick. Then they drafted Diggs in his 3rd year. Tough for him to crack. It's pretty wild when you look back at the rosters of those years. Just look at the QB "depth" 2013 - Ponder/Freeman/Cassel 1st/1st vet 2014 - Bridge/Ponder/Cassel 1st/1st vet 2015 - Bridge/Hill 1st/ You can literally trace back to the time that Zimmer lost it. I'd counter to say that a player like Charles Johnson was borderline NFL talent. If I recall, Johnson was particularly poor in terms of contested catches, which is where Thielen has excelled. As such, it either genuinely took Thielen three years to figure it all out or the coaches at the time were a poor judge of talent. I guess we'll never know. A little boost to the offense might have done wonders for the 2015 team.
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