Minnesota Vikings Tight End Room

The Minnesota Vikings went into this season with the following tight end room.

Irv Smith Jr.

Johnny Mundt

Ben Ellefson

Seventh-round rookie Nick Muse filled out the room on the practice squad. 

As a 2019 second round pick and immensely talented, a lot has been expected of Irv Smith Jr. Out from under the wing of Kyle Rudolph, last season was supposed to be Smith’s breakout season. Expectations skyrocketed further with his performance during the 2021 training camp. He was expected to be the Vikings top receiving option after Justin Jefferson. That went poof when Smith suffered a torn meniscus in the final preseason game. He missed the entire 2021 season. That made this season his breakout opportunity. A thumb injury wiped out much of his training camp. That slowed his comfort and involvement in Kevin O’Connell’s new offense. When the season opened, more often than not Johnny Mundt was the Vikings starting tight end. Smith and Mundt were splitting snaps. The entire offense has spent much of the season getting comfortable in this new offense. It’s been a process. It’s appeared to be an even more difficult process for the tight ends. Little that’s run through the position has looked right. Everything has looked forced. There were some nice goal line plays but that’s about it. The Vikings need more from their tight ends. That need was increased when Smith injured his ankle against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8. He’s expected to miss as much as 10 weeks.

First-year Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah didn’t mess around in his efforts to improve the tight end position. At the trade deadline, which just happened to be the Tuesday after Smith’s ankle injury, the Vikings made the bold move of acquiring T.J. Hockenson from the Detroit Lions. The former eighth pick in the 2019 NFL Draft has spent three-plus seasons struggling with a lot of losses. He’s played well on poor teams. He went to a Pro Bowl. He’s been one of the best young tight ends in the game since draft day. NFL analyst Greg Cosell said that Hockenson is one of the only draft prospects he’s studied that has “no discernible weakness.” He’s been a good player on a poor team. The hope is that he can be a great player on an 8-1 team. In two games with the Vikings, he has 16 catches. Several of which have been big, even gigantic, conversions. His midseason addition was huge. Season-altering huge. 

The Vikings tight end room is a little different now.

T.J. Hockenson

Johnny Mundt

After a stint on injured reserve, Ben Ellefson is in limbo on the reserve/designated to return list. He’s back at practice but hasn’t been activated. I’m guessing that happens within a week, maybe two. Recently signed James O’Shaugnessy joins Nick Muse on the practice squad. Muse has been promoted to the active roster the past couple weeks to boost the team’s game day tight end availability. 

After the long, productive career of Kyle Rudolph, the Vikings tight end position has been a huge question mark. Tyler Conklin took advantage of his opportunity and had a fine season last year. It got him a nice deal with the New York Jets. Nothing has gone as expected at the position since Rudolph. That’s entirely due to Smith’s unfortunate injuries. His future was so damn bright. He has so much natural talent. His future is still bright but he has to get through this run of injuries. This is the final season of his rookie contract so his future in Minnesota is very uncertain. With the addition of Hockenson, it’s even more uncertain. Hockenson is only 25 and under contract for another season. He looks like he could be a franchise fixture. One could go so far as to say that Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, and left tackle Christian Darrisaw are the offensive building blocks of the next several seasons for the Vikings. Smith could be re-signed. That’d create a brilliant tight end duo. Even if the injuries tap down Smith’s contract numbers, the Vikings would be committing a lot of resources to the position. A potential new deal for Hockenson should be pretty big for a tight end. Most likely, the team moves on with Hockenson, Mundt, and perhaps Muse in the team’s tight end room.