Biggest surprise player so far

[808vikingsfan]

Adam Thielen. Many were saying it was a fluke year last year. Six weeks into the season and he's ranked 3rd in the NFL .

[PurpleMustReign]

I'll say McKinnon too. I was not a fan of his before but he has showed me a lot of guts and heart this season. He is having a great year.

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[S197]

Adam Thielen. Many were saying it was a fluke year last year. Six weeks into the season and he's ranked 3rd in the NFL .

This was the first name that came to mind when I read the title. Certainly many other good candidates mentioned as well.

I guess from a sheer "never would have guess it" perspective, I'd have to go with Keenum.

[PurpleKoolaid]

The receivers as a whole, or if its one person, AT. No doubt in my mind. He runs great routes and makes Case look like a hero with some of those throws. With this many good receivers Case Can find all the WRs (even Treadwell) and Kyle. Kyle was awesome. He such a good weapon, its a shame to have him stay back and block.

[autobon7]

My vote goes to Keenum with Alexander second. Living near St Louis all I heard from the locals was how bad he was and funny that we have had 3 ex Rams at qb (Hill) + Shurmer. I think it has worked out ok so far aside from Bradford being injured but from a play calling perspective and having one of the very best backups in the league. I think it's safe to say that absolutely no one misses Norv Turner.

[PacificNorseWest]

How about the Great Barrier Reiff?

157 pass blocking plays for him, and he has allowed zero sacks. Only Joe Thomas and Trent Williams have done that.

This is probably my vote. Remmers has been better than I expected too, but he's still not all that great. Better than what they had and not awful, but he has 2 or 3 glaring lapses a game.

I'm not all that surprised by Keenum because of how he played in spurts in the past on other teams.

[J. Kapp 11]

Adam Thielen. Many were saying it was a fluke year last year. Six weeks into the season and he's ranked 3rd in the NFL .

I already voted for the O-line, but I need to give an additional shout-out to My Favorite Viking.

This guy ... my gosh. A $500 scholarship offer from Minnesota State for crying out loud. Not drafted. Not signed as an undrafted free agent. Caught on with his boyhood favorite team at a tryout where, in Thielen's words, middle-aged fat guys were running the field. Now here he is, a top-3 receiver in the NFL. Are you kidding me? There is no better story in the entire league.

People laughed at me last year when I compared him to Jordy Nelson. Right about now, it would be more appropriate to compare Jordy Nelson to Adam Thielen.

[PacificNorseWest]

Thielen is great. Love everything about it.

[John_Viveiros]

Not quite on topic, but I'm thinking Spielman. I'm not trying to be controversial - I know he has his detractors here, and after last season, you were pulling me in your direction (2016 draft, 2016 free agents). Heck, my favorite draft choice last year ended up being David Morgan. But the guy was magnificent this offseason. Signed some guys to long term contracts (Thielen!), signed Case as backup QB, and picked up a couple free agent linemen, as you've been saying in the thread above.

...And the draft. You want to pull a couple starters out each year, but Cook, Elflein, and Gedeon (!?!) have been rock solid all year, and only likely to learn the game better as they heal (Cook) and get more experience. And I have pretty high hopes for Johnson, Isidora, and Coley. And I'm a Sloter fan, from seeing him in preseason.

You'll always be judged by playoff wins, and that's going to be pretty reliant on getting stability at the QB position. We don't have that yet, but I like that Spielman is putting the resources into solving that issue.

[PacificNorseWest]

Spielman has been great. What he lacks in forward thinking he makes up in immediate responsiveness. He's got a good balance of both. Injuries and the ever elusive QB conundrum has hampered his reputation, but some of the players he's found and overall talent they've drafted or signed to fix, fill or expand is a 'B' grade, at worst.

[Pondering Her Percy]

O-line play has no question been the biggest single thing in the teams improvement. The run D is a close second. The defense is on the edge of being dominant. The offensive scheme and player fits to that scheme has also been HUGE! Its fun to watch them when defenses aren't expecting run run pass. Like Bradford or not......they have really only played one game with an NFL quality starting QB this year. Don't get me wrong, Keenum has played really well and its about the most you can expect out of a back up QB in this league, but he is no Bradford or Bridgewater. Would have been fun to see how things would have been without the Bradford injury. I think Speilman, Zimmer and Staff deserve a lot of credit as well for putting together a solid roster and system that has been able overcome some pretty major adversity thus far.

Agree on all counts

[Pondering Her Percy]

Not quite on topic, but I'm thinking Spielman. I'm not trying to be controversial - I know he has his detractors here, and after last season, you were pulling me in your direction (2016 draft, 2016 free agents). Heck, my favorite draft choice last year ended up being David Morgan. But the guy was magnificent this offseason. Signed some guys to long term contracts (Thielen!), signed Case as backup QB, and picked up a couple free agent linemen, as you've been saying in the thread above.

...And the draft. You want to pull a couple starters out each year, but Cook, Elflein, and Gedeon (!?!) have been rock solid all year, and only likely to learn the game better as they heal (Cook) and get more experience. And I have pretty high hopes for Johnson, Isidora, and Coley. And I'm a Sloter fan, from seeing him in preseason.

You'll always be judged by playoff wins, and that's going to be pretty reliant on getting stability at the QB position. We don't have that yet, but I like that Spielman is putting the resources into solving that issue.

Well you know I'm going to agree on that one. For not having a first round pick, this was an excellent offseason by Spielman

[Pondering Her Percy]

Spielman has been great. What he lacks in forward thinking he makes up in immediate responsiveness. He's got a good balance of both. Injuries and the ever elusive QB conundrum has hampered his reputation, but some of the players he's found and overall talent they've drafted or signed to fix, fill or expand is a 'B' grade, at worst.

And I'll add in, a lot of people give Zim credit for this defense which he obviously deserves but many forget to give Spielman the credit for drafting many of these players. I think him and Zimmer have a good thing going right now and a good mindset on who to bring in. Our guys have stayed out of trouble and are good locker room guys as well as performers on the field. Hunter, Stephen, Johnson, Barr, Kendricks, Gedeon, Waynes and Alexander are all guys he's drafted recently when Zim has been here. Not only is our defense good but it's very deep as well

As for the offense, I think what he did with the RB position this year was excellent. Loaded with depth. Same with the QB position. The OL is a lot better AND it's deeper than it was last year. Sirles can come in and play any position, Hill was a solid find IMO, wouldnt mind seeing what we have in Isodora too. The WRs speak for themselves.

Overall, he's built a very solid team IMO and will continue to build on that. I would love to go into this bye at 6-2 and I think it's a legit possibility.

[John_Viveiros]

And I'll add in, a lot of people give Zim credit for this defense which he obviously deserves but many forget to give Spielman the credit for drafting many of these players. I think him and Zimmer have a good thing going right now and a good mindset on who to bring in.

Four years ago, we were begging the Vikes to get to mediocrity on defense. And now we're clearly and consistently top ten, and in the conversation for best in the league. Zim has been incredible in this regard. I figured the team would be better defensively, but that there would be up seasons and down seasons. The consistency has really surprised me.

[808vikingsfan]

Speaking of Rick. I found this in another forum. Not sure if the numbers are correct.

....Do you know who there next highest paid players are?!

Clay Mathews (15mil) and Randall Cobb (12.6). Gross. That's 27.6 million.

Do you know what he get for that amount?! Using 2nd contracts only (rookies wouldn't be a good comparison):
Rhodes (10.4) + Griffen (8.6!) + Harry (7.5!) = 26.5 mil. Add in Nelson (11.5) and we can add Hungry (7.5) and change.

https://www.reddit.com/r/minnesotavikin ... d_packers/