What's wrong with Thielen?

Aging out 

He hasn't been 100% for most of the season. Or were you talking about his lack of involvement in the game plan?

@"Vikergirl" said: He hasn't been 100% for most of the season. Or were you talking about his lack of involvement in the game plan?

Both. It's like Kirk doesn't even bother looking for him in his progressions anymore. 

@"TBro" said:

@"Vikergirl" said: He hasn't been 100% for most of the season. Or were you talking about his lack of involvement in the game plan?

Both. It's like Kirk doesn't even bother looking for him in his progressions anymore. 

@"AGRforever" said:

@"TBro" said:

@"Vikergirl" said: He hasn't been 100% for most of the season. Or were you talking about his lack of involvement in the game plan?

Both. It's like Kirk doesn't even bother looking for him in his progressions anymore. 

Rarely is he open. When you have 0.0 seconds to throw it doesn’t make much sense looking his way. 

he can't run

@"Viking1987" said: he can't run

but he can... thats what runs me FN nuts, the guy is able to make those yards with his legs,  he just so rarely does.

AT is struggling with single coverage, i think as was said its just age reaping its harvest 

Adam is at that age as an athlete where his play is deteriorating....how much is debatable. The Vikings could really use a deep threat in this offense. 

Thielen is going to be done soon. It is what it is 

He's dust. He's been schemed open this year at times and made clutch catches but as far as beating his man-- something he's been elite at his whole career-- seems to not be there anymore or at least on the sharp decline. The team seems to recognize this considering he hasn't been getting many targets.
Jameson Williams or Christian Watson could have really helped this team, he whispered through tears.

WR is going to be a consideration with the 1st round pick this spring. 

@"MaroonBells" said: WR is going to be a consideration with the 1st round pick this spring. 

IT would not surprise me at all if that happened. Just not over a stud DB, DL or OG please. 

@"purplefaithful" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: WR is going to be a consideration with the 1st round pick this spring. 

IT would not surprise me at all if that happened. Just not over a stud DB, DL or OG please. 

The thought of having Jefferson + Watson + KJ + Adam (slot) and TJ is mind boggling.  

Any QB would succeed here with that weapon set

@"MaroonBells" said: WR is going to be a consideration with the 1st round pick this spring. 

Exactly why I was advocating for us to look at Jameson Williams or one of the other WR's in this last draft.  Did anybody not see this happening!? I love Thielen, his story, and what he's meant to the organization....but he is 33 and has missed a lot of games with injury the last couple seasons. I've never been as enamored with KJ as some here have been. He is a good group addition but if he is your starter opposite Jefferson, you are going to be in trouble. 

@"supafreak84" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: WR is going to be a consideration with the 1st round pick this spring. 

Exactly why I was advocating for us to look at Jameson Williams or one of the other WR's in this last draft.  Did anybody not see this happening!? I love Thielen, his story, and what he's meant to the organization....but he is 33 and has missed a lot of games with injury the last couple seasons. I've never been as enamored with KJ as some here have been. He is a good group addition but if he is your starter opposite Jefferson, you are going to be in trouble. 

I still go back to the fact that we had Williams, Davis, and Kyle Hamilton all fall into our laps for the taking and we traded all the way down for terrible value to select a non-impact player who was running 4th on the depth chart before his catastrophic injury. Getting little to no return from this draft class has hurt this team down the stretch. People can stroke Kwesi all they want, but the fact is outside of adding Zadarius in free agency after he spurned the Ravens and trading for Hockenson mid season, he has done NOTHING in the way of adding impact and/or depth to this roster. Hicks and Phillips have made little impact on a defense that currently ranks 31st in total defense. 
Kwesi has a lot to prove this offseason 

I’m not convinced that we have a Thielen problem as much as
we have a coaching/Cousins problem.  I
think schematically on offense, we have one thing we do well, and we do it
really well, but we don’t really have a resilient offense.  We don’t have other options to try when the
defense takes things away or if we have to work within the limitations of
injuries.  I think by now, we should have
clearly defined what our counterplan is for the handful of strategies teams
tried for neutralizing Jefferson.  By
now, we should have developed a competent rushing attack.  One that we can use to kickstart the offense
if the passing game is struggling.  We
pass to setup the run, and that’s fine, but ideally you should be equally adept
at running to setup the pass as well.  I
think the first thing I would try with teams that are going to bracket
Jefferson, is that I would switch Jefferson and KJ’s role.  If the offense is designed to maximize one
players production, and the defense is countering that by bracketing/following
Jefferson, see if you can open things up by getting defenses to commit a ton of
resources to the 3rd or 4th option on the play.  Now you have their 3rd best CB covering
the primary option on the play.  I’m not
saying we should abandon running inside, but we should clearly prioritize
running outside.  I think I would like to
see some packages where we go heavy and try to assert our will physically on a
team.  Not that it would be our mainstay
or anything, but it’s just so outside what we normally do that it could make defenses
have to think more about how to defend us. 
I’d also like to see us have a better quick passing game, where instead
of having plays that designed to maximize Jeffersons production, the focus
would be on finding the best matchup presnap and getting them the ball.

@"medaille" said: I’m not convinced that we have a Thielen problem as much as we have a coaching/Cousins problem.  I think schematically on offense, we have one thing we do well, and we do it really well, but we don’t really have a resilient offense.  We don’t have other options to try when the defense takes things away or if we have to work within the limitations of injuries.  I think by now, we should have clearly defined what our counterplan is for the handful of strategies teams tried for neutralizing Jefferson.  By now, we should have developed a competent rushing attack.  One that we can use to kickstart the offense if the passing game is struggling.  We pass to setup the run, and that’s fine, but ideally you should be equally adept at running to setup the pass as well.  I think the first thing I would try with teams that are going to bracket Jefferson, is that I would switch Jefferson and KJ’s role.  If the offense is designed to maximize one players production, and the defense is countering that by bracketing/following Jefferson, see if you can open things up by getting defenses to commit a ton of resources to the 3rd or 4th option on the play.  Now you have their 3rd best CB covering the primary option on the play.  I’m not saying we should abandon running inside, but we should clearly prioritize running outside.  I think I would like to see some packages where we go heavy and try to assert our will physically on a team.  Not that it would be our mainstay or anything, but it’s just so outside what we normally do that it could make defenses have to think more about how to defend us.  I’d also like to see us have a better quick passing game, where instead of having plays that designed to maximize Jeffersons production, the focus would be on finding the best matchup presnap and getting them the ball.

While I agree with this, I do think Thielen is still on the sharp decline. Even this gameplan you laid out-- which I like a lot-- suggests feeding Osborne more rather than Thielen.
The run game is a disaster and now with a banged up O-line I'm not sure it gets fixed. That's a big problem and I personally do not think the problem is Dalvin.
While the coaching this year has been much better overall and in many areas, there are still some areas like the run game and at times the defense where the old regime's knowledge would have been useful.
Top offseason priorities:
1. Boot Donatelle and get a (hopefully much better) DC in house.2. Use what little draft capital we have to draft WR, DT, LB.3. Use what little free agency bucks we have to sign an impact player or two. Doesn't matter what position but we need more.4. Draw a line in the sand at the QB position-- either draft Kirk's replacement, commit to him for 3 more years, or *gasp* trade him and show up on your hands and knees at Tom Brady's doorstep.