Veteran Johnny Mundt has put together a strong camp and is primed to break out in the Pro Bowler's absence
When Kevin O’Connell was hired by the Minnesota Vikings as head coach in 2022, he hired Los Angeles Rams tight ends coach Wes Phillips as his offensive coordinator. Phillips brought with him a tight end who had 10 career catches in five seasons and was coming off an ACL tear.
When the Vikings signed veteran pass-catcher Robert Tonyan to go along with Josh Oliver, it wasn’t clear if Mundt would still get his opportunity to show that he can play a full-time tight end role. But Tonyan went down with back spasms early in camp and Mundt emerged as a constant target for quarterback Sam Darnold.
In 2022 Mundt played 466 total snaps for the Vikings and 307 of them were as a blocker, per PFF. Of the 307 blocking snaps, 250 were in a run blocking role. His position changed when the Vikings signed Oliver, who had graded as the NFL’s best run blocking tight end while he was in Baltimore. That doesn’t mean that Oliver has been tossed aside. It looks like the 6-foot-5, 260-pound tight end will continue to play the same role he was brought in last year on a three-year, $21 million contract to play.
“Generally when you have Josh Oliver on the field you are going to have some sort of base defense,” Phillips said. “He’s very valuable in protection. If you’re getting him out into the routes, which we like to do, he’s a talented receiver for as big of a man as he is…Huge catch radius. It’s like climbing a mountain climbing over his back to try to disrupt a pass.”
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