Things are getting interesting over in Charlotte. The Carolina Panthers signed a three-year contract with free agent wide receiver Adam Thielen, expecting him to be the leading target for whichever quarterback prospect they pick first in the 2023 NFL draft.
And Thielen is a player New Orleans Saints fans know well. He’s averaged 85.8 yards per game in four regular season matchups with their defense (going up to 105.3 yards per game if you include two playoff games), and he’s been annoyingly effective against their top cornerback Marshon Lattimore. Let’s take a quick look at how those specific matchups have played out before.
Pro Football Focus charting found that Thielen has drawn a combined 13 targets when covered by Lattimore in five games — in one of those contests, he was never targeted with Lattimore near him. Thielen totaled 11 receptions on 13 targets with Lattimore in coverage, gaining 157 yards and converting 7 first downs. Thielen had a single dropped pass, while Lattimore had a single pass breakup. Lattimore has never intercepted a pass thrown to Thielen but Thielen has never scored a touchdown reception against his coverage.
Something’s going to give eventually. Here are Thielen’s stats against Lattimore in those five games:
- 2017, Week 1: 2 receptions on 2 targets for 33 yards, 1 first down
- 2017, Division playoff round: 4 receptions on 6 targets for 53 yards, 2 first downs, 1 pass breakup
- 2018, Week 8: 1 dropped pass on 1 target
- 2019, Wild Card playoff round: 4 receptions on 4 targets for 64 yards, 4 first downs
- 2020, Week 16: 1 reception on 1 target for 7 yards
Of course, it’s a team sport, and the Saints will deploy a variety of players in hopes of slowing Thielen down (last year in London, with Lattimore covering Justin Jefferson, Thielen was targeted while guarded by five different defenders over the course of the game). It won’t just be Thielen against Lattimore on an island for three hours. But that would be entertaining.
