Vikings OTA Observations: Adam Thielen Wows With One-Handed Touchdown Catch

Thielen's crazy snag in the back of the end zone was the highlight of Wednesday's practice.

When Kirk Cousins lofted the ball towards Adam Thielen during a 7-on-7 red zone period of Wednesday's Vikings OTA practice, I didn't think there was any chance the veteran receiver would come down with it.

I should've known better.

In one fluid motion, Thielen jumped, twisted his body, and made a ridiculous one-handed catch in the back of the end zone, getting both feet down in bounds to complete the play. It was such an impressive catch that the entire offense mobbed him in celebration immediately afterwards.

Hopefully one of the Vikings' camera people recorded it, but I haven't seen a video yet. If that exists and reaches the internet at some point, I'll embed it here (reporters aren't allowed to record video for most of these practices).

This was nothing new for Thielen, whose 39 touchdown catches over the past four seasons rank fourth behind only Davante Adams, Mike Evans, and Tyreek Hill. 31 of those came within the red zone (79 percent); only Adams, with a whopping 40, has more red zone touchdown catches during that time frame. Thielen also leads all receivers in catch rate on red zone targets since 2018.

"I think that's something that doesn't always go into the evaluation early on and then it just starts to show up," head coach Kevin O'Connell said. "And obviously what he's done in the red zone over the course of his career speaks for itself. He's got a tremendous feel, a knack for...just understanding as that field shrinks, where that open grass is, and how can I be a friendly target for the quarterback."

"That play that you're talking about is just an example of Kirk kind of feeling his body language in the route. Do we coach it to throw in that area? Absolutely not. He's just throwing Adam open with some trust. I think that's the big word, trust in the red zone. To kind of play through the eyes of the quarterback and be available and be that friendly target. He’s done it throughout this whole spring and then you go back and just watch a lot of the things he’s been able to do. There’s a lot of times where he’s scoring touchdowns when it wasn’t exactly how you drew it up, and whenever you can get that to happen with off-schedule plays to any one of our guys — or maybe the on-schedule opportunity throws like that one that end up being big-time chances for our offense."

That's something that comes, in part, from Cousins and Thielen having played together for four years and having developed a certain level of trust and understanding between each other.

Thielen's catch was the clear highlight of Wednesday's practice, but here are a few other observations.

• New Vikings receiver Albert Wilson was at practice in a No. 25 jersey, a number usually worn by running backs. I imagine he'll try to change that if he makes the team after training camp. Wilson did some drill work but still has a lot to do to get up to speed with the offense. He spent plenty of time chatting with wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell off to the side.
• Jesse Davis got most of the reps at right guard with the first-team offense, after Chris Reed did so in the practice open to media last week. That's still a true rotation, it appears.
• The two Cams — Bynum and Dantzler — are starters in the secondary, for now. Lewis Cine will presumably push Bynum in training camp, but Bynum has been impressive in OTAs and had a nice PBU on Wednesday. Dantzler's spot is likely safe for a while, as Andrew Booth Jr. is still recovering from offseason surgery.
• It doesn't need to be said, but Justin Jefferson is incredibly good at football.
• Rookie running back Ty Chandler got open on a swing pass to the left and took it all the way, although it helped that there was a defensive miscommunication and no one covered him.
• Greg Joseph got the better of rookie Gabe Brkic in the kicking competition on this particular day, with Brkic missing a couple kicks. Joseph wasn't perfect either, though.
• Two intriguing roster bubble players who saw a few reps with the 1s: WR Trishton Jackson and EDGE Luiji Vilain. Both are former UDFAs, with Vilain a rookie this year. Both got those opportunities due to players in front of them on the depth chart being out (K.J. Osborn and Ihmir Smith-Marsette at WR, Za'Darius Smith and D.J. Wonnum at EDGE). Jackson is interesting because he spent over a year with O'Connell and the Rams to begin his NFL career.
• Speaking of roster bubble players, second-year UDFA Myron Mitchell has looked solid all throughout OTAs. The Vikings are extremely deep at wide receiver, but keep an eye on Mitchell in August.

The Vikings will be back on the field next Tuesday through Thursday for three days of mandatory minicamp, and that'll wrap up the offseason program. Then it's nearly two months off until training camp begins.

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