7 tight ends the Vikings could select in the 2022 NFL Draft
By Luke Parrish
Will the Minnesota Vikings add another tight end in the 2022 NFL Draft?
The Minnesota Vikings head into the 2022 season without much depth at their tight end position. Irv Smith Jr. is the headliner after bouncing back from an injury that forced him to miss all of last season, but Minnesota does not currently have a proven backup behind him.
With injuries being part of Smith‘s history, the Vikings need to prepare for a scenario in which he cannot play a full 17-game season. They can add extra bodies to the mix through the draft to help fill the void left by the departure of Tyler Conklin in free agency.
The list of players that follow Smith on the depth chart as of today consists of Johnny Mundt, Ben Ellefson, and Zach Davidson. That group is not going to turn any heads and the Vikings will not be able to live with that group being the final depth chart when the season kicks off.
Minnesota has run into plenty of problems in recent years due to a lack of depth across the roster. The defense struggled to play at a high level after injuries forced low-depth players into action over the past two seasons.
It is always dangerous to read too far into injuries and simply assume a player will not be able to play, but Irv Smith Jr. is coming off an injury that should scare the Vikings to some degree. He has never been a game-changer throughout the early stages of his career and there is no clear sign that he ever will be that sort of player.
Minnesota will want to improve its depth at tight end at some point moving forward. They might as well take a look in this draft to see if any players fit what they want from the position.