Vikings Training Camp 2021: Top 5 takeaways from Day 3

Irv’s of steel

There are a lot of fans who are very excited to see what Irv Smith Jr. will be able to do now that he is the starting tight end for the Minnesota Vikings. More snaps and a bigger role should do wonders for him statistically, but it would also be wise to taper expectations as not to overestimate how he will perform in the offense.

All that said, Friday’s training camp fed some more fuel to the fire to those who believe that Smith is due for a breakout year. According to Courtney Cronin, the young tight end beat Mackensie Alexander on a jump ball in seven-on-seven drills made another nice catch when in 11-on-11 drills.

With Kyle Rudolph out of the way and no clear-cut third wide receiver on the Vikings roster, Smith should see quite a bit of time on the football field this season and will have plenty of opportunities to improve upon last season where he caught 30 passes for 365 yards and five touchdowns.

What helps Smith more than a flash here or there is that he has proven himself to be a capable and willing blocker when asked and can use a combination of speed and route running to shake defenders and pick up yards after the catch. With those skills, he will be a dangerous part of the team’s offense going forward.