What does Irv Smith Jr. do well?
This question is something that every coaching staff should ask themselves when adding a new player to their system. For the Vikings, this process played out through months of scouting and research including the NFL combine, The conclusion is that Smith is more than just a traditional tight end, but a moveable chess piece that can keep opposing defensive coordinators up at night.
Part of what fuels that versatility is Smith’s athleticism. His 4.63 40-yard dash time at the NFL Scouting Combine was in the 85th percentile of this year’s class and his speed score of 102.0 is in the 69th percentile. While those numbers provide a nice athletic base, PlayerProfiler suggests that he has a similar overall profile to Indianapolis Colts tight end Eric Ebron, who was the tenth overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
Despite Ebron’s athleticism, he never got going in his stint with the Detroit Lions, but finally was turned loose as part of a two-tight end set with Jack Doyle in Indianapolis last season. That could build a theme here as the Minnesota Vikings will try to duplicate that success and turn both Smith and Rudolph loose to create a diversion for top receiving weapons Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen.