Adam Thielen Fantasy Football Outlook (2020)

By Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros), Wed, Aug 26th 2020, 6:56am EDT

It was a down year for Thielen in 2019, who's suddenly 30 years old (August 22nd, he will be) with back problems. That's not a recipe for success for a wide receiver, though it helps that he's the only steady presence at wide receiver. Most will look at the target totals from last year and wonder where his targets come from, but don't forget that Thielen saw 298 targets over the previous two seasons. Last year was an incredibly efficient year for the Vikings on the ground, and when you combine the fact that Thielen missed half the season, you can understand why their pass attempts came crashing down to earth. With the defense likely taking a step back after losing many starters, we should expect to see their run-to-pass ratio come back towards the league average, which would help Thielen's target potential. Knowing that he's the only receiver in the starting lineup who has any chemistry with Cousins, we should expect at least eight targets per game. That calls for him being a high-end WR2 at the very least when he's in the lineup, though his injury concerns have to be built into his cost. His current ADP is the WR11, which is too expensive for the risk you're taking on.