The value of a player like Adam Thielen in today’s NFL makes his role with the Minnesota Vikings one of the most underappreciated among casual football fans.
If you walk up to a casual football fan on the street anywhere other than Minnesota and ask them for their opinions on Adam Thielen, odds are that you’ll get a response of “who?” or “isn’t he a 5th string wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings?”
However, it is just that kind of underappreciation that makes Adam Thielen’s success so wonderful. Since joining the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2013, the young man has impressed at everything he’s done. The coaching staff quickly took to Thielen, adding him to the wide receiver corps, special teams units, and even running trick plays for him.
Still, when talking about Thielen, fans aren’t sure of what he really is. While he’s a jack of all trades, he continues to grind to improve all facets of his game. And when opposing teams don’t take him seriously, it gets him frustrated. But that’s just a day in the life of not being a star player.
In fact, it’s helped to motivate him. Recently, the Star Tribune released an article where Thielen talked about teams believing he’s just a decoy on offense or cornerbacks thinking they’re above covering him during games.
Mike Zimmer sees him trying to earn respect rather than demand it, and that is something that appeals to the hard-nosed head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.
"“Adam always kind of plays with a chip on his shoulder. I know he got into a little altercation [with Jones] down there [in Cincinnati]. But that’s how he is and that’s how he has to play.”"
Much like his teammate Marcus Sherels, fans are sometimes too quick to write off all the little things Adam Thielen can do to help a team win football games. This was apparent when many were saying Thielen wouldn’t make the squad after the Vikings drafted German wide receiver Moritz Böhringer this year.
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The value of a player on special teams that can excel at run blocking, punt and kick coverage, trick plays, and as a wide receiver make him an almost indispensable part of the Minnesota Vikings franchise at this point, and fans should look forward to seeing much more of the Swiss army knife of a player in the future.