Minnesota Vikings Midseason Review: Grading the offense
By Chris Schad
Evaluating the Wide Receivers:
In what has almost become a surreal development, Adam Thielen keeps making outstanding plays and racking up 100-yard games.
Although his eight-game streak of 100-yard games (which tied an NFL record) ended against the Detroit Lions last Sunday, the walking Disney movie has not only become Kirk Cousins’ favorite target, but also one of the best receivers in the NFL. Currently, Thielen leads the league in receptions (78) and receiving yards (947), while setting a new career-high with seven touchdowns.
Stefon Diggs has also got off to a strong start to begin the season, but has either been really good (four games with 90 yards or more) or really bad (four games under 43 yards).
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The good news is that in his last game against the New Orleans Saints, he caught 10 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. Diggs is currently sitting with a respectable stat line of 58 catches for 587 yards and four touchdowns.
After Diggs and Thielen, the wide receiver group gets kind of ugly for the Vikings. Minnesota’s 2016 first-round pick, Laquon Treadwell, has reinforced his bust label, committing crucial drops throughout the season (see Green Bay in Week 2) and lapses of judgement (chucking his helmet against the Saints) that have hurt the team.
With Treadwell in flux, the Vikings have turned to veteran Aldrick Robinson (three touchdowns this season) and practice squad call-up Chad Beebe (three catches for 21 yards against Detroit last week) to try to add some depth. While both are only small sample sizes, Minnesota will need one of these guys to step up in case something happens to a starter.