Out Of Nowhere

Most players enter the NFL through the draft. Several enter as undrafted free agents. Very few sneak into the league through the tryout door. Often during the rookie workouts right after the draft, teams hold tryouts for an overlooked group of players. Players from local colleges routinely populate the tryout lists. If things go well in these tryouts, the player, or players, get an invite to training camp. That's it. An invite. No guarantees. But, the dream continues. Which is all that really matters. Minnesota Vikings cornerback Marcus Sherels entered through this less glamorous, but often inspiring, route. He earned an invite to the Vikings 2010 training camp. He got cut, got signed to the practice squad and has pretty much fought for his job every day since. Now, he's one of the top punt returners in the game. He's small, but fast, and still has to fight for his job.

The Vikings have another player that might be following the path set by Sherels. Receiver Adam Thielen was invited to try out after the 2013 NFL Draft. He earned an invite to training camp. He didn't make the 53-man roster but was signed to the practice squad. That was his rookie season. Thielen has been one of the standouts of the just completed OTAs. #19 has routinely popped up on highlights. People are talking about him. The media is talking about him which doesn't really matter much. General manager Rick Spielman was talking about him in a recent interview which matters quite a bit. At 6'2" and about 200 lbs, Thielen has nice size. He's got decent speed. He's got terrific hands. He seems to have a real nice rapport with rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. That could prove to be very helpful.

With a new coaching staff, it's tough to guess how many receivers the Vikings will keep. Five is likely. Six is a possibility. It really depends on how the rest of the roster shakes out. Right now, the Vikings top four receivers are fairly set:

Greg Jennings
Cordarrelle Patterson
Jarius Wright
Jerome Simpson

Thielen, Rodney Smith, undrafted free agents Erik Lora and Kain Colter, and recently signed Josh Cooper are likely fighting for one spot. Smith, at 6'5", would give the Vikings some size that the others simply can't. Thielen might still be leading and he's come out of nowhere to do so.