Adam Rank expects Adam Thielen to be a "crazy-good value in the first half of the season" as Bryce Young leans on the veteran’s route precision. Rank cautioned that age and a likely shift toward younger Panthers receivers could cause Thielen to fade down the stretch, so redraft managers should plan an exit strategy around mid-season.

Conor Allen played Adam Thielen under 575.0 receiving yards. Carolina spent the 8th pick on Tetairoa McMillan and expects a second-year leap from Xavier Legette. Inside, both Jalen Coker and a rejuvenated Hunter Renfrow are reportedly ‘roster locks’ and pushing for slot snaps. Thielen turns 35 in two weeks, and Allen listed several paths to the under: injury, outright benching, or simply losing targets to younger players. He concluded that even if Thielen somehow starts 17 games, the target pie is smaller and the under still has outs.

Despite turning 35, Thielen has averaged 8.2 yards per target as a Panther and posted 103-1,014-4 in 2023. After returning from injury last season he went 40-506-4 in only seven games. Freedman argues that if rookie Tetairoa McMillan struggles like Xavier Legette did, Thielen could once again lead Carolina in targets, making his WR65 ADP criminally low relative to a WR56 projection and proven floor.

Gilles Gallant said bettors should pounce on Adam Thielen at +310 to score an anytime touchdown in Week 1 against Jacksonville. He pointed out that Thielen led Carolina in targets per game during the back half of last season and remains Bryce Young’s most trusted option near the goal line. Books are pricing rookie wideout Tet McMillan around +140—as if he were already a star—creating what Gallant calls a market mis-price on Thielen. The Jaguars played the NFL’s highest rate of man coverage last year, and Thielen topped the Panthers in yards per route run versus man, giving him a schematic edge. Expecting a potentially high-scoring contest, Gallant would play Thielen down to +275 but loves the current +310 number.

Sean Koerner called Adam Thielen the only clear ADP bargain in Carolina’s receiver room. Thielen is coming off a season in which he logged a 23% target share and still showed burst after the catch despite turning 34. Koerner has him ranked WR55 while Underdog drafters are letting him fall to WR64, so you’re getting nearly a full round of discount. He expects the veteran to reprise last year’s high-volume, short-area role that produced seven top-30 weekly finishes in 2024. Koerner framed Thielen as a plug-and-play WR3 in Season-long and a steady floor pick for Best Ball builds that already have plenty of boom-bust youth.

Erik Beimfohr said Adam Thielen is a no-brainer Round-14 selection because the market keeps writing his obituary a year too early. Thielen turned 34 last season and still piled up 615 yards and five scores in only 10 games, ripping 9-102 against Philadelphia and 5-110-2 versus Tampa. Those numbers produced WR28 value in points added per game—a pace normally drafted in the sixth round. Beimfohr argued nothing about turning 35 automatically eliminates that role, especially with Carolina’s pass-catcher depth unchanged beyond rookie Tee Mac. Thielen gives early-season stability to builds that lean on volatile upside rookies like Trey Harris or Rashee Rice and still owns the ‘one-week nuke’ profile Best Ball drafters need. With a 14th-round ADP that carries zero opportunity cost, Beimfohr is happily scooping Thielen for 14-point filler weeks and the occasional vintage blow-up when younger studs miss time.