The Minnesota Vikings revamped their wide receiver group after the offseason trade of Stefon Diggs that landed them a first-round pick, which ended up being LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Minnesota will pair Jefferson with No. 1 wideout Adam Thielen, one of the most underrated wideouts in the game. Of course, the Vikings lost their deep threat in Diggs, but Thielen believes the team will be just fine without him. That's not a knock on Diggs, but the confidence of the wide receivers Minnesota has on the roster.
"That's the NFL," Thielen said, via ESPN. "I'm actually just excited about the depth of that room. Nobody probably knows about the depth of our room, and the guys that we've got coming in. But I've been around a few of those guys, been able to train with them and work out with them. I'm just really excited about our room. Whether it be young guys or some veterans that we added. It's going to be different, but it's going to be good."
The group is led by Thielen, who is coming off a down year by his standards. After consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, Thielen was limited to just 30 catches for 418 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games (was only targeted 48 times). The Vikings are banking on Thielen to have a bounce-back season, posting numbers similar to the 113 catches for 1,373 yards and nine touchdowns two years ago.
This will be the first year Gary Kubiak will call the plays as offensive coordinator, so the Vikings will have a different look on offense. Kubiak admitted last month that Jefferson will "move inside quite a bit," which makes plenty of sense. Per Pro Football Focus, Jefferson's 18 touchdowns in the slot last season were the most ever by a player since the stat was first tracked in 2014, and his 1,518 yards in the slot were the most since 2016. Jefferson recorded 111 catches for 1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns for LSU last year, and the majority of his production (obviously) was in the slot.
Minnesota will utilize multiple formations in Kubiak's scheme, focusing on zone blocking and the outside stretch on run plays, which became clear after the trade of Diggs. The Vikings can line up Tajae Sharpe as the "Z" and Olabisi Johnson as the No. 4 for depth. Johnson record 294 receiving yards and three touchdowns in his rookie season, averaging just 9.5 yards per catch. Sharpe had 1,167 yards and eight touchdowns in three seasons with the Tennessee Titans (signed a one-year deal with the Vikings in free agency).
While the Vikings are taking a chance at wide receiver without an excellent downfield threat in Diggs, they have plenty of possession wideouts that can extend the play with yards after the catch. Kirk Cousins will have more options to spread the football around, playing a role in what Minnesota hopes to achieve under Kubiak -- who had two receivers finish with over 700 yards the last two seasons he was an offensive coordinator (2005 with Broncos and 2014 with Ravens).
