Following up on Ian's post about Adam Thielen's release on Friday, I thought I'd take a look at how that might benefit the current No. 2 on the roster, K.J. Osborn. I figured he probably had better numbers with Thielen out of the lineup. But I was surprised just how much better.
Thielen didn't miss any games last year, so there's not much to go on with Osborn -- a fifth-round pick back in 2020 who's now entering his fourth season -- as the No. 2 from that season. But he was definitely one of the very best No. 3s, catching 60 passes for 650 yards and 5 touchdowns. Only 2 3rd-best receivers (in terms of yards on their respective teams) had more yards last year, Tyler Boyd and Keenan Allen. Only Allen had more catches. (To be clear, no one would consider Allen a No. 3, but because of injuries he had fewer yards than both Mike Williams and Josh Palmer.)
| 2022 3RD-BEST WRS (YARDS), BY TEAM | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 WRs | No | Yds | TD |
| Tyler Boyd, Cin. | 58 | 762 | 5 |
| Keenan Allen, LAC | 66 | 752 | 4 |
| K.J. Osborn, Min. | 60 | 650 | 5 |
| Alec Pierce, Ind. | 41 | 593 | 2 |
| Marvin Jones, Jac. | 46 | 529 | 3 |
| Jahan Dotson, Was. | 35 | 523 | 7 |
| DJ Chark, Det. | 30 | 502 | 3 |
| Nico Collins, Hou. | 37 | 481 | 2 |
| Greg Dortch, Ari. | 52 | 467 | 2 |
| Elijah Moore, NYJ | 37 | 446 | 1 |
| Kendrick Bourne, N.E. | 35 | 434 | 1 |
| Russell Gage, T.B. | 51 | 426 | 5 |
| Romeo Doubs, G.B. | 42 | 425 | 3 |
| Michael Gallup, Dal. | 39 | 424 | 4 |
| Isaiah McKenzie, Buf. | 42 | 423 | 4 |
| Trent Sherfield, Mia. | 30 | 417 | 2 |
| Jauan Jennings, S.F. | 35 | 416 | 1 |
| Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Ten. | 25 | 397 | 3 |
| Marquise Goodwin, Sea. | 27 | 387 | 4 |
| Van Jefferson, LAR | 24 | 369 | 3 |
| Quez Watkins, Phi. | 33 | 354 | 3 |
| Isaiah Hodgins, NYG | 33 | 351 | 4 |
| Hunter Renfrow, L.V. | 36 | 330 | 2 |
| Justin Watson, K.C. | 15 | 315 | 2 |
| Kendall Hinton, Den. | 24 | 311 | 0 |
| Chase Claypool, Pit. | 32 | 311 | 1 |
| Shi Smith, Car. | 22 | 296 | 2 |
| Rashod Bateman, Bal. | 15 | 285 | 2 |
| Tre'Quan Smith, N.O. | 19 | 278 | 1 |
| Damiere Byrd, Atl. | 13 | 268 | 2 |
| Dante Pettis, Chi. | 19 | 245 | 3 |
| David Bell, Cle. | 24 | 214 | 0 |
Osborn did, however, have a shot at being the No. 2, late in 2021. That year, Thielen got hurt early on against Detroit, returned briefly a couple of weeks later, then was shut down for the season. In the last six games of the year, Osborn was the No. 2 behind Justin Jefferson. Here are his numbers from those games.
| OSBORN W/O THIELEN, 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD |
| at Det. | 7 | 4 | 47 | 1 |
| Pit. | 9 | 3 | 83 | 1 |
| at Chi. | 3 | 3 | 21 | 0 |
| LAR | 7 | 5 | 68 | 1 |
| at G.B. | 5 | 3 | 50 | 1 |
| Chi. | 4 | 1 | 21 | 1 |
That's 19 catches for 290 yards and 5 touchdowns in six games -- about 3 catches for 48 yards and a touchdown per week.
Finally, Osborn also finished strong this past year, even with Thielen playing his usual snaps in most games. In the last five games of the regular season he caught 30 passes for 388 yards and 3 TDs; he scored again in the playoff loss to the Giants.
It's early, and the Vikings could still add somebody else. But a name to file away; I expect I'll be interested in Osborn as a later-round pick this summer.
--Andy Richardson