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Minnesota Vikings superstar wide receiver Adam Thielen knows quite a bit about the struggles that rookies have to go through.
In fact, he might know more than most, seeing as he went undrafted back in 2014. After a few seasons of fighting for a role, Thielen turned himself into one of the best wide receivers in the entire NFL. That doesn't mean he's forgotten about what it was like to be a rookie clawing for a spot on a team's roster.
The rookies of the 2020 NFL Draft class might have it harder than most that come into the league. The reason for that is pretty obvious: The coronavirus pandemic.
Due to the pandemic, we've already seen the NFL Draft process altered. Teams didn't get to meet with players, and the draft was even held virtually.
And things have not gotten easier from there. Players still haven't been able to meet with their coaches or workout with their teammates. Everything is being done online at the moment.
That means that rookies aren't really getting the usual “welcome to the NFL” experience. And, via Chad Graff of The Athletic on Twitter, Thielen gave his thoughts on the situation.
Adam Thielen, whose crazy story of going undrafted and working his way onto the Vikings is well known: "Honestly, I probably wouldn't be in the NFL if this would've happened my rookie year."
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) May 19, 2020
Thielen is one of the best receivers in the league and the Vikings' top pass catcher. But given his path to get to that point, it's easy to see where he is coming from.
Thielen was not drafted. That means he needed to take advantage of every second of the Vikings meetings, minicamps and practices to secure a spot on the team and then to work his way up the depth chart from there.
Now, undrafted players don't have as much of a chance to impress their coaches. Meanwhile, even drafted rookies will have a tougher time. They aren't getting extra face time with coaches and teammates and not as much time to get acclimated to the league and working through their playbooks.
That's going to make it harder for them when it comes to fighting for spots on the roster and in the starting rotation.
Players in the position Thielen was once in could therefore be at a disadvantage throughout this unusual offseason.
