Every NFL team’s most underrated offensive weapon entering 2020

Minnesota Vikings: Irv Smith Jr.

The Minnesota Vikings have plenty of talented pass catchers on the offense, including Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, Kyle Rudolph, and Dalvin Cook. They’ve become a more run-centric team since bringing on Gary Kubiak last season in a consulting role and they should maintain that scheme since the Super Bowl-winning coach was promoted to offensive coordinator earlier this offseason.

An underrated player who should be on the field a great deal is Irv Smith Jr. The Vikings selected Smith in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft as the third tight end off of the board. While many expected he would supplant Rudolph as the TE1 after he was drafted, Smith merely took on the role as a complementary tight end in this offense.

Nonetheless, Smith still remained involved in the passing game, catching 36 balls for 311 yards and two touchdowns on 47 targets. He was heavily relied upon in the red zone, as his seven red zone receptions ranked 11th among all tight ends. With a true catch rate of 87.8 percent, the Vikings knew they could rely on the sure-handed tight end on play-action passes and short-to-intermediate routes.

With Kubiak calling the plays, Smith should see more pass-catching work as the Vikings system becomes even more tight end friendly. He may not take over for Rudolph just yet, but he will be an underrated weapon that becomes heavily utilized in the Minnesota pass game next season.