National Football League is a top-tier athlete when compared to we mere mortals. Many are larger than life figures who tower over some teammates http://www.minnesotavikingsteamonline.com/dru-samia-jersey , let alone over those who spend money on watching NFL games in-person and on merchandise. The best of the best are offensive and defensive physical freaks, many of whom seemingly live inside of gyms when they aren’t on football fields. They are capable of making plays that many who have featured for teams in high school, college and even the pros can only dream of making in editions of Madden. These walking highlight-reels are tremendous advertisements for the sport and the faces of their teams for fans who can’t get enough of watching them perform.With that said, more than a few NFL players either on rosters or currently looking for work, as of the posting of this piece, could stand to spend a little more time at the gym in attempts to improve or extend their careers. The man widely believed to be the greatest quarterback in the history of the league may not look like he is a Greek God or somebody sculpted from granite Daniel Jones Jersey , but he has turned himself into a different type of physical freak because of his strict diets and structured workout programs. Odds are if he isn't watching game film or spending time on the practice field, he is probably working out as you are reading this sentence, regardless of what time you have come upon this piece. That type of dedication often separates champions from good players. A week ago, Adam Thielen was breaking modern NFL records.This week, we’re talking single-season receiving records.More Vikings coveragePhotos of the Week: 7/21/19 – 7/27/19Rookie Bradbury is central figure to Vikings’ overhauled offensive lineVikings depth at cornerback being tested, Hughes still not clearedPlayers to watch at Minnesota Vikings 2019 training campTop Tweets: Vikings WR Diggs makes push for All-NFL Style TeamThielen had 11 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown in Week 6 Quincy Williams II Jersey , and now leads the league with 712 receiving yards on 58 catches.That’s a 16-game pace of 1,899 receiving yards and 154 receptions, enough to threaten the single-season yardage record and shatter the single-season receptions record.Calvin Johnson set the current single-season yardage record in 2012, racking up 1,964 receiving yards, while Marvin Harrison set the receptions record in 2002 with 143.And while those numbers seem out there — particularly for a guy coming off his first 1 Ryquell Armstead Jersey ,000-yard season — some of the underlying metrics suggest that Thielen’s torrid pace could be sustainable.Thielen had another 15 targets Sunday, giving him a league-leading 81 on the season. He has no fewer than 10 targets in any game this season, and an overall catch rate of 71.6 percent.That catch rate is actually down from Thielen’s career high — an even 75 percent, back in 2016 — and more than 20 percentage points off the league lead.Most of those catches are coming without much additional yardage, a potential area of improvement.Thielen is currently averaging 12.3 yards per reception, slightly below his career average of 13.6 Gardner Minshew II Jersey , after averaging 14 yards per reception from 2016-17.He’s averaging just 4.2 yards after the catch per reception, well outside the top 30, and slightly off his 2017 rate of 5.0 YAC/R and his 2016 rate of 4.4 YAC/R.There is, it would seem, a bit of untapped potential left there.One potential wrinkle: His usage so far accounts for 44.27 percent of the Vikings‘ air yards this season, a measure that eliminates YAC.From a basic standout Christian Wilkins Jersey , Thielen is accounting for nearly half of the Vikings’ passing offense.That seems like an area where Thielen could be primed for regression — he currently ranks second in the league behind Julio Jones at 48.02 percent — but such a number isn’t unprecedented in this pass-happy era.Both Jones and A.J. Green finished 2017 above 45 percent, while DeAndre Hopkins, Antonio Brown and Michael Thomas finished north of 40 percent.