The Vikings know a thing or two about having great receivers. This year, they have two of them. And one of them is on the verge of doing something none of them has done since the team’s last appearance in the NFC title game.
As explained by Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, receiver Adam Thielen needs 84 receiving yards to become the Vikings’ first 1,000-yard receiver since Sidney Rice in 2009.
In the eight years since then, no one has managed to get to four figures. Thielen himself came within 33 yards of the goal in 2016.
The Detroit Lakes, Minnesota native, who played at Minnesota State (previously Mankato State) and went undrafted after being uninvited to the Scouting Combine, becomes the unlikeliest addition to a group of great receivers from the team’s history, including Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Anthony Carter, Ahmad Rashad, Jake Reed, Sammy White, and John Gilliam.
The more significant news is that a win in Detroit, Michigan on Thursday would move the Vikings to 9-2, in turn making Thielen a viable contender to do something that no Vikings player has ever done: Get his fingerprints on a silver trophy with a football atop it.