Minnesota Vikings Midseason Review: Grading the offense
By Chris Schad
Evaluating the Tight Ends:
For years, the Vikings have made an attempt to upgrade at tight end behind Kyle Rudolph. And for years, they have failed mightily with the lone exception being David Morgan.
While the production that has come from the tight end spot has received significant praise nationally, the truth is that the performance from Minnesota’s tight ends has been nothing more than average.
At the center of this is Rudolph, who sometimes is compared to a poor man’s Jason Witten. But even Witten could put up a big game out of nowhere when needed.
Rudolph’s best game this season was a seven catch, 72-yard performance against Green Bay in Week 2. Other than that, the Vikings top tight end hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 3 against the Buffalo Bills and he has recorded over 50 receiving yards just once in his last seven games.
With Morgan being more of a blocking tight end (and someone that is expected to miss some time with a knee injury), Rudolph needs to step up his production in order to give the offense a third receiving option behind Thielen and Diggs that they desperately need.