While the Vikings are not short on elite offensive weapons by any means, there is a clear void on the team’s wide receiver depth chart at the moment with Jordan Addison suspended until Week 4. It was a void large enough that Minnesota brass felt it necessary to part ways with a fourth-round pick and a fifth-round pick to bring back Vikings legend Adam Thielen from the Panthers just two weeks before the regular season was set to begin.
Now 35-years-old, Thielen is slightly removed from the glory days of his past. After putting up back-to-back 1,200 receiving yard seasons in 2017 and 2018, Thielen actually failed to produce another 1,000 yard campaign in his time with Minnesota, though he did haul in 30 touchdowns across his final three years with the organization. Thielen then caught 103 passes for 1,014 yards in 2023 in Carolina before an injury-diminished campaign in 2024.
Thielen’s viability in DFS this evening is a bit of a mystery. The ramp-up process shouldn’t have been too difficult for the veteran, as Thielen played one season under Kevin O’Connell in 2022, yet you’d have to assume the wideout is well behind Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson in terms of the aerial pecking order. It’s not like Jefferson is getting your standard WR1 target share, either. The All-Pro ranked fourth in the NFL in targets in 2024 with 150, seeing a target on a robust 24.9% of the routes that he ran for the season as a whole.
Then there’s the matter of J.J. McCarthy, who will be making his first-career NFL start on Monday Night Football against a Bears defense that surrendered both the fewest opponent passing touchdowns per game (1.0) and the fewest fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers last season.
In tonight’s Millionaire Maker contest on DraftKings, Thielen is a relatively cheap FLEX option at $4,400 that should play a decent number of snaps and run a decent number of routes. There’s validity to having some exposure to the veteran WR in that capacity. In season-long? I truly hope you had a better option this weekend and aren’t praying for a Thielen touchdown to scratch out your matchup. It’s a long shot.
