How Vikings receiver Adam Thielen has become one of the NFL's best
Photo via VikingsWire/USA Today
Don’t look now, but some guy named Adam Thielen is currently third in the NFL with 1,005 receiving yards through 11 games. Thielen started his career with a couple of quiet seasons, but broke out with a productive 967-yard, five-touchdown campaign in 2016. This year, he's ascended from just being a productive receiver to maybe one of top five in the league.
The Minnesota Vikings wideout's appearance doesn’t scream No. 1 receiver. He’s listed as 6-2, 200 pounds and ran a 4.49 40 at his pro day, but when you watch him explode out of his stance and run routes, it’s clear why he’s having so much success.
Hand Usage
Using your hands to get open is an art form for a wide receiver. Hand usage has to be quick, precise and strong, but if you overextend, you can get called for a push-off. Thielen is a black belt in this discipline.
He doesn’t have the body and length of a guy like Julio Jones, yet he’s still able to make contested catches on 50/50 balls because of how he uses his hands.
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Defensive linemen use a one-hand stab technique so they can use both the length of their shoulders and arms to create separation from blockers.
Mack's long arm of the law technique. pic.twitter.com/1YwRk3clk9
— Ted Nguyen (@RaidersAnalysis) October 19, 2016
Thielen uses a similar technique to create separation for one-handed catches.
Seen this from Thielen before. Stays sideways so he could use his forearm and length of his body to shield defender without extending.
— Ted Nguyen (@RaidersAnalysis) November 23, 2017
Similar to idea behind DL "long arm" technique. pic.twitter.com/Wz7Mem9khX
Instead of extending, Thielen remains sideways so he can utilize the length of his shoulders, but only uses the length of his upper arm instead of his entire arm. This makes the maneuver legal and helps shield away the defender.
Thielen remains sideways right until the ball gets to him. This doesn’t allow the defensive back to make a play on the ball. He also does a good job of keeping the ball away from the defender as he tries to swipe at it.
— Raiders Analysis (@raidersupload) November 23, 2017
On this out route, Thielen uses an excellent head fake, shoulder shake and punch step inside before breaking outside. As he breaks, he uses a swim move to get the defensive back’s hands off him. He tries to swipe the defensive back’s arm away with his outside hand before swimming over with his inside hand.
After he gets his arm across, he swipes backward with the same arm to get his hand right on the meaty part of the defender’s arm, his triceps. That’s precisely where he wants to hit because it’s hard to recover (try it on yourself). Without getting a hand on Thielen to disrupt his route, the defensive back gets beat but is lucky he drops the pass.
Unorthodox Movements
Another tool Theilen uses to get open are his unique movements. I’m not sure if they are learned or it’s something he instinctively uses. Whatever the case, it makes it very tough for defensive backs to predict where he wants to go.
Theilen is so good at using small unorthodox movements to get open.
— Ted Nguyen (@RaidersAnalysis) November 23, 2017
That hands catch away from the body while getting hit ain't bad either pic.twitter.com/JeZs9WbnLK
Thielen runs an in route. He doesn’t get the ball on his break, so he tries to settle in the zone. He senses the cornerback on the outside is too close, so he throws a shoulder fake like he’s going to break to the outside before shuffling back inside.
By shuffling, he stays square to the quarterback and gives him a big target to throw to. He finishes by making a difficult hands catch away from his body and maintains control even when getting hit.
— Raiders Analysis (@raidersupload) November 23, 2017
On this play, Thielen runs a simple hitch route, but what he does as the ball comes to him is interesting. He actually hops backward and toward the outside, while leaning his upper body forward. The defensive back sees the hop back, and it’s almost like bait for him because he attacks Thielen toward the outside.
Because Thielen has his weight forward, he’s actually in good position to burst inside right as the defensive back comes up on the outside. Theilen flies past him almost untouched, and turns a five-yard hitch into a 65-yard touchdown.
Chemistry with Case Keenum
Besides all the little things Thielen excels at, to put up these numbers, his trust and chemistry with quarterback Case Keenum is a huge factor. Keenum not only trusts Thielen with 50/50 passes, he also trusts he’ll always be where he needs to be. The two seem to be reading each other’s minds at times.
This is especially apparent when plays break down.
— Raiders Analysis (@raidersupload) November 23, 2017
Here, the defense double-covers Theilen. The safety has him inside and underneath, while the corner is supposed to play over the top. Thielen initially runs a dig route. The safety does his job by fonting him on his inside, but the weakside corner gets lazy and falls asleep to the outside.
Keenum has to avoid pressure, and breaks the pocket to the opposite side of Theilen. However, he looks to Theilen on the backside dig right when he could find some space to set up.
As he makes eye contact with Theilen, he breaks his route off and gets deep, where the corner isn’t. Keenum makes a perfect over-the-shoulder pass and Theilen is able to track it down for a big catch.
Again, it’s unclear if some of the things Theilen does are taught. Some athletes have a natural feel for how to use their hands, how to set up defenders and where the open field is. Though Theilen doesn’t have the elite physical traits, his combination of athleticism and skill makes him one of the toughest receivers to cover in the league.
Follow Ted Nguyen on Twitter at @raidersanalysis
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