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'Damn, who is this guy?' How the Vikings discovered Adam Thielen
#1
Rick Spielman, Vikings general manager: "Our pro scout, Ryan Monnens, came back and said this kid had a really good workout, we need to get him on the radar. So then we went ahead and talked about him in the draft process, so we were aware of him. But he truly came to light, to be honest with you, when he stuck out at the super regional.
"Mankato’s coaches just being honest and giving [our scouts] their assessment of him. He was good enough to probably be a college free agent. He came on to our radar significantly more, not from his college tape, but more when he popped up at that super regional."
But Thielen needed a push to get an invite to the Vikings’ three-day rookie minicamp. Brown, his former teammate, was on the Vikings’ practice squad and recommended Thielen sign with his agent.
[Image: Biermann_Bill.jpg]Bill Biermann, Thielen’s agent in 2013: "I would get literally 100-plus guys calling. Everyone has the dream. I’d get all these guys that would call me and I’d look at all their film and stuff and I’d say: 'I don’t know if I can help you.' I looked at Adam’s stuff and I talked to him and you could tell how bad he wanted it and he believed in himself. I was like ‘This guy can do it.’ I just have to get him a shot. That was my one promise -- if you pick me, I will get you your shot. I promise you that.
"I always tell my wife I’m politely pushy. You just have to keep calling these guys. I can honestly remember calling the Vikings on Adam. I was sitting on my front porch at my house. I think I had just gotten done working in the yard when they finally answered the phone. I was like, he’s a hometown kid, what do you gotta lose? Just give him a shot. He’s very passionate and he’s a very hard worker, he’s got a lot of heart, just give him a shot. It took me more than one or two phone calls, I’ll tell you that."
[Image: Thielen_Adam.jpg]Thielen: "I had no idea the Vikings were interested. I was actually expecting other teams because the Green Bay Packers and three or four other teams asked for film after the combine in Dallas, and the Vikings weren’t one of them. I had no idea the Vikings would be calling, but they called the day of the draft and said if it doesn’t work out and you don’t sign somewhere, we’d love to invite you to rookie camp. And then a couple days later, the Carolina Panthers did the same thing and they offered me the same thing for the next weekend.
"I think there were a lot of people at Mankato reaching out to the Vikings saying to just bring me in for a tryout. Obviously I wasn’t on their radar at all when the scouts came down to Mankato the year before and asked our coaches if there's any NFL guys. They said no and they didn’t scout me. They never watched me in college, which obviously isn’t their fault. That’s just what they were told."
Thielen traveled from his hometown of Detroit Lakes to Eden Prairie in early May, joining 11 other wide receivers as undrafted free agents, a pro or college tryout or as a draft pick.
[Image: Patterson_Cordarrelle.jpg]Cordarrelle Patterson, Vikings’ 2013 first-round pick: "I was like ‘Damn, who is this guy?’ He was working so hard and I was coming in as a draft pick and working with him ... he motivated me to work even harder than I was."
[Image: Musgrave_Bill.jpg]Bill Musgrave, Vikings offensive coordinator 2011-13: "When he came in for the rookie minicamp, we timed those guys in a 40 and he blazed it. He blazed the 40. Whether it’s 4.4 [seconds] electronic or 4.3 hand [timed], he blew down the field in our indoor facility. I still remember watching him do it. And then he caught some balls, but he was clearly the fastest kid there -- draft pick, free agent or rookie tryout -- he was the fastest guy on the field. And then what was great, when we watched him play football that spring, he played football fast. He didn’t just run or test fast. He actually probably played a little bit faster than he ran the 40."
Quote:Another player in rookie camp that year was cornerback Xavier Rhodes, a first-round pick. Thielen made an impression against him during one-on-ones.




[Image: Spielman_Rick.jpg]Spielman: "When he’s being able to separate from your first-round draft pick, that probably gives you an indication that at least this guy has a pretty good chance to be a good practice squad guy and give us a good look."
[Image: Bolton_Kyle.jpg]Bolton: "Rhodes is quick and long and has some speed to him, so when Adam went against him, he used a lot of technique you see today. It wasn’t as refined back then, and he had to make more diving catches than I think he does now, but he would hold his own and guys would be all over him and he’d come up with a catch. Whereas me and other guys had to depend on speed [to win a matchup], Adam had both the speed and the skill set. So when he went up against him, he was pretty smooth with his routes and he got in and out of his breaks really quickly and had strong hands. From the beginning you could tell he had strong hands on him."


[Image: Patterson_Cordarrelle.jpg]Patterson: "He don’t give a f--- who he’s going up against. Xavier was a first-round pick. He didn’t care. He’s going to make sure he’s going out there and competing."


http://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-vikin...t-a-tryout
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#2
I read this yesterday and what I found very interesting was IMO the Viking's scouts dropped the ball on him. They didn't time him at his school?? And then the follow up was 'he plays faster on the field'? I think somebody was asleep at the wheel on the grassroots scouting level. 
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#3
Good read! You have to think Thielen is entering the list of best ever undrafted free agents. Vikings were fortunate to have a few of those (Randle, Moon). But the thing about Thielen is that he wasn't even a UDFA. He was a street tryout. Man, it's just remarkable. 
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#4
Quote: @StickyBun said:
I read this yesterday and what I found very interesting was IMO the Viking's scouts dropped the ball on him. They didn't time him at his school?? And then the follow up was 'he plays faster on the field'? I think somebody was asleep at the wheel on the grassroots scouting level. 
Sounds like his coaches dropped it. 
Quote:Obviously I wasn’t on their radar at all when the
scouts came down to Mankato the year before and asked our coaches if
there's any NFL guys. They said no and they didn’t scout me.
Lots of low level college guy and the scouts aren't going to waste their time on every player of every team.  And not sure, but it seems like Adam didn't exactly light the world on fire in college.  He wasn't a Randy Moss at Marshall or Iupati at U of Idaho where he elevated the entire team.


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#5
Quote: @greediron said:
@StickyBun said:
I read this yesterday and what I found very interesting was IMO the Viking's scouts dropped the ball on him. They didn't time him at his school?? And then the follow up was 'he plays faster on the field'? I think somebody was asleep at the wheel on the grassroots scouting level. 
Sounds like his coaches dropped it. 
Quote:Obviously I wasn’t on their radar at all when the
scouts came down to Mankato the year before and asked our coaches if
there's any NFL guys. They said no and they didn’t scout me.
Lots of low level college guy and the scouts aren't going to waste their time on every player of every team.  And not sure, but it seems like Adam didn't exactly light the world on fire in college.  He wasn't a Randy Moss at Marshall or Iupati at U of Idaho where he elevated the entire team.


Just curious....does the team or its players on the Vikings EVER do something wrong in your opinion? You seem to be a well reasoned person and knowledgeable fan but you are way up on the homer scale when it comes to the organization and its players. This probably sounds harsh, but its not my intent. Just a question. I understand the guy below isn't on the Viking's staff. And ultimately, the Vikings did find him and sign him which is great. They've been exceptional with UDFAs.

[Image: Cunningham_Mike.jpg]Mike Cunningham, Minnesota State-Mankato offensive line coach: "I'm a horrible evaluator of talent. We never would test 40s at Mankato and I was the pro liaison there. When all the NFL teams would come through, we weren't actively giving the NFL scouts his name, per se. We just thought he was a good Division II football player as a coaching staff and, obviously, he made us all look wrong."
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#6
It's such a great story. Another bonus is that the Packers asked for film and didn't do squat. 
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#7
Quote: @StickyBun said:
@greediron said:
@StickyBun said:
I read this yesterday and what I found very interesting was IMO the Viking's scouts dropped the ball on him. They didn't time him at his school?? And then the follow up was 'he plays faster on the field'? I think somebody was asleep at the wheel on the grassroots scouting level. 
Sounds like his coaches dropped it. 
Quote:Obviously I wasn’t on their radar at all when the
scouts came down to Mankato the year before and asked our coaches if
there's any NFL guys. They said no and they didn’t scout me.
Lots of low level college guy and the scouts aren't going to waste their time on every player of every team.  And not sure, but it seems like Adam didn't exactly light the world on fire in college.  He wasn't a Randy Moss at Marshall or Iupati at U of Idaho where he elevated the entire team.


Just curious....does the team or its players on the Vikings EVER do something wrong in your opinion? You seem to be a well reasoned person and knowledgeable fan but you are way up on the homer scale when it comes to the organization and its players. This probably sounds harsh, but its not my intent. Just a question. I understand the guy below isn't on the Viking's staff.

[Image: Cunningham_Mike.jpg]Mike Cunningham, Minnesota State-Mankato offensive line coach: "I'm a horrible evaluator of talent. We never would test 40s at Mankato and I was the pro liaison there. When all the NFL teams would come through, we weren't actively giving the NFL scouts his name, per se. We just thought he was a good Division II football player as a coaching staff and, obviously, he made us all look wrong."
Legit question.  Funny I was thinking along the same lines when I typed that.  I am a fan of the team I guess.

But honestly my take seems reasonable.  Adam said it, the coaches said it, they told the team there weren't any NFL guys there.  So why would the team scout if his own coaches weren't that impressed.  I guess it is a process were teams rely on scouts and scouts rely on college coaches.  If I am scouring for NFL talent amongst the DII kids, I would expect NFL talent to stand out at that level.  So I wouldn't waste my time watching guys that are just guys.
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#8
Quote: @greediron said:
@StickyBun said:
@greediron said:
@StickyBun said:
I read this yesterday and what I found very interesting was IMO the Viking's scouts dropped the ball on him. They didn't time him at his school?? And then the follow up was 'he plays faster on the field'? I think somebody was asleep at the wheel on the grassroots scouting level. 
Sounds like his coaches dropped it. 
Quote:Obviously I wasn’t on their radar at all when the
scouts came down to Mankato the year before and asked our coaches if
there's any NFL guys. They said no and they didn’t scout me.
Lots of low level college guy and the scouts aren't going to waste their time on every player of every team.  And not sure, but it seems like Adam didn't exactly light the world on fire in college.  He wasn't a Randy Moss at Marshall or Iupati at U of Idaho where he elevated the entire team.


Just curious....does the team or its players on the Vikings EVER do something wrong in your opinion? You seem to be a well reasoned person and knowledgeable fan but you are way up on the homer scale when it comes to the organization and its players. This probably sounds harsh, but its not my intent. Just a question. I understand the guy below isn't on the Viking's staff.

[Image: Cunningham_Mike.jpg]Mike Cunningham, Minnesota State-Mankato offensive line coach: "I'm a horrible evaluator of talent. We never would test 40s at Mankato and I was the pro liaison there. When all the NFL teams would come through, we weren't actively giving the NFL scouts his name, per se. We just thought he was a good Division II football player as a coaching staff and, obviously, he made us all look wrong."
Legit question.  Funny I was thinking along the same lines when I typed that.  I am a fan of the team I guess.

But honestly my take seems reasonable.  Adam said it, the coaches said it, they told the team there weren't any NFL guys there.  So why would the team scout if his own coaches weren't that impressed.  I guess it is a process were teams rely on scouts and scouts rely on college coaches.  If I am scouring for NFL talent amongst the DII kids, I would expect NFL talent to stand out at that level.  So I wouldn't waste my time watching guys that are just guys.
Appreciate the answer. 
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#9
When I'd read this I couldn't help but remember that during '15 and I think as late as preseason of '16 I was thinking they didn't need or needed better than Thielen and he'd be cut.  I know I wasn't alone on that.  Of course he proved his worth in '16 and really busted out last year.  Nothing prepared me for what he's done this season so far... 
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#10
Quote: @StickyBun said:
I read this yesterday and what I found very interesting was IMO the Viking's scouts dropped the ball on him. They didn't time him at his school?? And then the follow up was 'he plays faster on the field'? I think somebody was asleep at the wheel on the grassroots scouting level. 
I think when you consider the astronomical odds of a Div. II street free agent (there are hundreds each year) whose own coach declared wasn't an NFL player, it's pretty hard to say any scout on any team "dropped the ball" on Adam Thielen. 
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