Fantasy Football Player Notes

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.

In case you didn't know, Jefferson is coming off a ridiculous season with LSU where he tallied 111 receptions for 1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns over 15 games. He played the big-slot role for them, which is something the Vikings should take into consideration when figuring out how to best deploy him. Unfortunately, Jefferson wound up on the COVID list and is being forced to miss a lot of camp. Still, he's a route-running technician who's playing behind a 30-year-old receiver who's been dealing with back issues. There's an avenue where Jefferson is relied upon as a rookie more than most think, though it would likely require Thielen to be out of the lineup. Under Gary Kubiak/Kevin Stefanski last year, the wide receivers saw just 43.2 percent of the target share (4th-lowest mark in the NFL), making it very difficult for multiple options to be fantasy relevant on a week-to-week basis. Because of that, Jefferson is essentially just a wide receiver handcuff.