Adam Thielen cracks the NFL Top 100 List

Former MSU wide receiver makes the list after having a standout season for the Minnesota Vikings

Kevin Korbel
Sports Editor

If you followed the Minnesota Vikings this season, you may have already heard the same narrative more than once before. Wide receiver Adam Thielen, a former MSU Maverick football star, and who also became the Vikings’ first 1,000-yard receiver since 2009 this past season, made his NFL Network Top 100 debut at #36 this season.

We’ve all heard the Adam Thielen story a bunch of times, but it still never gets old. Signing following a tryout with the Vikings after going undrafted, Thielen slowly worked his way up the ladder with the purple. Starting out on the practice squad, he clawed his way up to a role on special teams, and eventually into a role in the offense.

After coming up just short of the 1,000-yard mark in 2016, Thielen made sure he got past it this season. He had 1,276 yards on 91 catches with five touchdowns on the season, becoming the first Viking since Sidney Rice to eclipse that plateau.

As the Vikings head into the 2018 season, Thielen is without question now is an important focal point on an offense that’s loaded with talent. The combination of him and Diggs will be an important part of the team’s success heading into next season, especially with a new quarterback at the helm again for the men in purple.

Thielen is the sixth member of the Vikings to make this year’s list, joining the following teammates: Harrison Smith (#46), Case Keenum (#51), Xavier Rhodes (#55), Stefon Diggs (#65), and Linval Joseph (#83).

The Vikings’ new quarterback, Kirk Cousins, who played for the Washington Redskins earlier this season, also made the Top 100 list at #94.

It’s still unknown how many more members of the Vikings are going to make this year’s list, but it’s expected that the team will have a couple more players appear on this list before the list is done. With six players on the team appearing on the list already, the Vikings currently lead the league in most people on the list.

With Thielen finally carving a role into the offensive scheme this season, Thielen will be motivated more than ever to help win this team future ballgames.

Congratulations to Adam Thielen on being, at least to this point, the highest-rated member of the Vikings on this year’s NFL Network Top 100!