Vikings sign a tight end who caught one touchdown in his college career

On Monday, the Minnesota Vikings announced the addition of tight end Shaun Beyer, who spent the 2021 season on the Denver Broncos practice squad.

For the Minnesota Vikings, tight ends is likely the position group on their roster that has the least amount of depth. There’s Irv Smith Jr. at the top, and then the position group pretty much falls off a cliff after that.

So when it was revealed on Monday that the Vikings have signed tight end Shaun Beyer, the news didn’t exactly send shockwaves throughout the fan base.

Beyer joins a Minnesota tight ends group that currently consists of Smith, Johnny Mundt, Ben Ellefson, Zach Davidson, and rookie Nick Muse.

What can Shaun Beyer add to the Minnesota Vikings in 2022?

Last season, Beyer was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent, and he spent the entire 2021 campaign on their practice squad. The Broncos signed the young tight end to a reserve/futures deal this past January, but then they wound up moving on from him in May after the 2022 NFL Draft.

Before fighting for a spot in the NFL, Beyer spent his college career at Iowa. Over the years, Iowa has produced a number of very talented tight ends, including George Kittle, Noah Fant, and T.J. Hockenson. However, Beyer has a lot of work to do before he becomes mentioned in the same breath as some of the most notable tight ends in Iowa history.

The Vikings‘ newest tight end didn’t catch a pass in college until his junior season at Iowa. During Beyer’s college career, he caught a grand total of 18 passes for 275 yards and one touchdown.

He was viewed as a developmental tight end during the 2020 pre-draft process, but some believe his athleticism could translate into a significant amount of success in the NFL within a few years.

Will that potential success take place in a Minnesota uniform, or will Beyer just end up as a camp body who gets shown the door at the end of the preseason?