There’s been a lot of talk of Vikings tight ends this offseason.
Will Kyle Rudolph get traded? Did they pay him too much? How much will rookie Irv Smith Jr. play?
One guy who hasn’t been talked about at all has been last year’s sixth-round pick Tyler Conklin.
And it’s not really a surprise that we haven’t talked about him considering he had five catches for 77 yards all of last season.
But so far in training camp, Conklin has impressed the Vikings coaching staff.
“Usually, guys make their biggest jump from year one to two if they’re going to be a really good pro and play awhile, you see that with him,” Vikings offensive advisor Gary Kubiak said Friday. “A good thing with Conk, a lot of tight ends are either physical tight ends or receiving tight ends. He’s one of the few guys who looks like he has a chance to do both, so we will just stay patient with him and keep working, but he’s having a good camp.”
Don’t be surprised if we see more of Conklin in 2019, even if that comes at the expense of Irv Smith Jr. We’ll see what kind of looks the team tries to get him in preseason.
