Rudolph adjusts to life as a blocker

[purplefaithful]

“Whatever my past roles have been, when we turn the tape on Monday, it won’t matter if I haven’t blocked traditionally. Now, that’s all I’m doing,” he said. “My grade will reflect how well I’ve blocked. There’s no curve. I’m grading out higher now than I ever have; it’s not because I’m running routes and catching balls.”
Rudolph says this with no ruefulness in his voice, even if a shift to an unglamorous role could lead a player in the 29-year-old’s position to harbor resentment. Instead of retaining a key role in the Vikings’ passing game — after agreeing to a restructured five-year, $43.725 million deal in June that helped the Vikings clear cap space to sign their draft class — Rudolph has been pressed into blocking duty, because of the Vikings’ shift to a run-heavy offense and a knee injury to tight end David Morgan that resulted in season-ending surgery.
Through 40 pass-blocking snaps in six games, Rudolph has allowed only one sack and two pressures (according to Pro Football Focus), while logging 175 run-blocking snaps and playing a key part in the Vikings’ outside zone blocking scheme.

He’s also able to quickly cite the stark contrast in his receiving numbers.
“I have yet to catch a ball further than four yards down the field,” he said, “and I have two targets further than four yards down the field: A throwaway, and a throwaway. Running routes and catching balls is not what I’m graded for any more.”
Offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski said he doesn’t consider Rudolph an afterthought in the passing game by any means, and both acknowledged there could come a day where his number is called more often. The point of professional pride, for Rudolph now, comes from being known as a complete tight end, from excelling in a facet of the game in which he’s never been seen as particularly adept and from being the one the Vikings can trust in a role they know they need
http://www.startribune.com/kyle-rudolph-...563463522/

[Guest]

When Morgan’s injury first appeared serious this spring and summer, Rudolph knew what was coming.
“Early on, everyone kept telling me, ‘The balls will come,’ ” he said. “I hadn’t fully accepted just being a blocker — and really, since embracing that, I take a lot of pride in being a good football player. Right now, if I want to be a good football player, I have to be a good blocker. It’s a change in mentality, taking pride in blocking guys that are some of the best at their position — high draft picks, good rushers — and just trying harder than they do.”


The high stakes and lucrative contracts of the NFL, though, have a way of muddying the waters of any role change, no matter how pristine the reasons might have been for a player accepting it. Given that the Vikings are scheduled to carry more than $202 million of cap liabilities into the 2020 league year, it’s not hard to see a scenario where Rudolph is faced with the same choice as former teammates Antoine Winfield, Kevin Williams, Chad Greenway, Jerome Felton or Brian Robison, who were forced to consider playing for fewer dollars as their responsibilities shifted.
The only guaranteed cash left in Rudolph’s deal would come on the third day of the 2020 league year, when his $7.025 million base salary would become fully guaranteed if he’s on the Vikings’ roster. He’s not blind to the business realities that could follow a season where a new role comes with modest statistics.
Rudolph’s evolution, coach Mike Zimmer said, could help prolong his career. Kleinsasser said his former teammate — who was fifth in touchdowns and eighth in receptions among tight ends from 2014-18 — “fits in with the mold” of Jason Witten, whom Kleinsasser considered the standard of a complete tight end. And those players who can be trusted in any situation, Stefanski said, are few and far between.
“How many complete tight ends are there in the game any more?” Stefanski said. “To see him do it at this level, and function in a bunch of different roles, I think, is extremely impressive. You look around the league, and who else is doing that?”
The question of Rudolph’s valuation is probably best left for another day. His value to the 2019 Vikings is clear now.

[Guest]

Well, so much for life as a blocker lol!

I think the O adjusted as best they could losing AT. Irv and Rudie were big today.