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Imo, Rudolph is our best TE when healthy. Easily!
He gets paid very well, for 1/2 season. Ford and Pruitt are not going to set the field on fire, but they may remain healthy? Will have to wait and see. Continuity and timing are keys to NFL offensive success.
Don't get that with guys on the bench.
Thus a big reason for a struggling offense is not having healthy top players out there. At some point, next tier guys that play are better than inconsistency!
And let's also acknowledge that were talking about TE play here. Not game breaking specialists.

Watching his highlight videos, he looks and moves like a giant WR. I can see the Vikings shifting Pruitt around to cause mismatches.

808vikingsfan wrote:Watching his highlight videos, he looks and moves like a giant WR. I can see the Vikings shifting Pruitt around to cause mismatches.

"Giant" WR? He's 6'2. Unless you meant like bulk-wise. At 252 he is a bit burlier than most WRs. But he's still like four inches shorter than Rudolph.

Kyle Rudolph pro day 40 - 4.83
Chase Ford pro day 40 - 4.75
MyCole Pruitt combine 40 - 4.52

I can definitely see the excitement there in Pruitt. That's ridiculously faster than the other TEs.
He's able to run with Safeties, that's a field stretcher

IIsweet wrote:Kyle Rudolph pro day 40 - 4.83
Chase Ford pro day 40 - 4.75
MyCole Pruitt combine 40 - 4.52

I can definitely see the excitement there in Pruitt. That's ridiculously faster than the other TEs.
He's able to run with Safeties, that's a field stretcher

You can see the lack of speed in Rudolph and Ford. Heck, they play slower than their 40s. Great hands, but don't seem very good at getting open...or making a play after the catch.

dead_poet wrote: "Giant" WR? He's 6'2. Unless you meant like bulk-wise. At 252 he is a bit burlier than most WRs. But he's still like four inches shorter than Rudolph.

Yeah, I was referring to his size and not his height. Bad word choice.


Some are comparing him to Charles Clay of the Dolphins. Frankly, I've never heard of him but found this written about Clay. Maybe the Vikings could use Pruitt in a similar way.

Defensive coordinators started to take note, because they had one small problem... they couldn't figure out how to cover him. He was too fast for linemen and too big for corners. He seemed to be one of the few players that Bill Belicheck couldn't figure out. He lined up everywhere. When the secondary started keying on him, other receivers started to get open. Not only could he suddenly catch everything. He could hit. Clay finished the season with 69 catches for 759 yards and 6 touchdowns.

The Curious Case of Charles Clay

older article

MyCole Pruitt Is the Best 2015 Tight End Prospect You Haven't Heard of

808vikingsfan wrote:Yeah, I was referring to his size and not his height. Bad word choice.

Oh, OK. Then I agree.

Some other fun combine facts: His 40 time ranks him as the 11th fastest TE in the last eight years. He's in some pretty good company.

Jordan Cameron: 4.59
MyCole Pruitt: 4.58 (combine)
Jimmy Graham: 4.56
Dustin Keller: 4.55
Ladarius Green: 4.53
Jared Cook: 4.50

His 20-yard shuttle (4.37) was third-fastest at the combine this year for a tight end. He tied Max Williams. His 60-yard shuttle (11.85) was also third among TEs. It places him #11 among TEs in the last four years. Faster than Zach Ertz but slower than notables Jacob Tamme (11.51), Tyler Eifert (11.52), Jordan Cameron (11.56) and John Carlson (11.59).

It should also be mentioned that most of the guys I listed are 6'4-6'6, which puts Pruitt's scores into a bit more perspective. His hand size is average to above-average and his weight in comparison puts him on average about 5-7 pounds heavier than some of the other guys with a few exceptions (Jimmy Graham was listed at 6'6/260, for example).

IIsweet wrote:Kyle Rudolph pro day 40 - 4.83
Chase Ford pro day 40 - 4.75
MyCole Pruitt combine 40 - 4.52

I can definitely see the excitement there in Pruitt. That's ridiculously faster than the other TEs.
He's able to run with Safeties, that's a field stretcher

Rudolph wasn't fully healthy for Notre Dame's Pro Day. He missed the last half of his final year at Notre Dame with a torn hamstring, didn't participate in the combine and was only cleared medically a couple of weeks before the ND Pro Day. He's not a speed burner but when fully healthy I expect he would run in the mid 4.7s (which for a guy his size is reasonably good).

Pseudo Everything wrote: Rudolph wasn't fully healthy for Notre Dame's Pro Day. He missed the last half of his final year at Notre Dame with a torn hamstring, didn't participate in the combine and was only cleared medically a couple of weeks before the ND Pro Day. He's not a speed burner but when fully healthy I expect he would run in the mid 4.7s (which for a guy his size is reasonably good).

Honestly, I don't care about his size and being a good athlete for his size. If he's slow, he's covered... that simple. He's got great hands and is a good blocker, actually a very good TE, but just not a field stretcher.
Thus I see the Pruitt kid as someone that they are going to try to get on the field. He adds another element of speed. With all of these burners on the field at once, the defense cannot afford to play close to the LOS without the threat of being beat over the top on any play. Now, Pruitt has not earned a starting spot, hasn't even made the 53 yet, but he does bring a new dimension to the TE spot.

IIsweet wrote:Honestly, I don't care about his size and being a good athlete for his size. If he's slow, he's covered... that simple. He's got great hands and is a good blocker, actually a very good TE, but just not a field stretcher.
Thus I see the Pruitt kid as someone that they are going to try to get on the field. He adds another element of speed. With all of these burners on the field at once, the defense cannot afford to play close to the LOS without the threat of being beat over the top on any play. Now, Pruitt has not earned a starting spot, hasn't even made the 53 yet, but he does bring a new dimension to the TE spot.

I don't view Rudolph as slow. Gronkowski's best 40 time was 4.68. He isn't that much faster then a healthy Rudolph. And size is a consideration (Pruitt is only 6'2" which is short for a TE). In 2012 Rudolph had the 2nd most TD receptions for TEs in the league (only 1 behind Gronkowski). At 6'6" he makes for a nice redzone target.

Majority of the time, do you think we will be running 2 TE sets with 2 WRs or 3WR set with 1 TE or 2WR 1 TE and a FB ?
That plays a big part in the comparison of the 2TEs.

I'd bet 2 WR / 2 TE is our most used formation with AD back.

mondry wrote:I'd bet 2 WR / 2 TE is our most used formation with AD back.

We had a lot of success with 3 WR sets in 09. f we trust Teddy, I can see that being our go-to formation.

The Vikings' depth wasn't consistently reliable last year, either, as Chase Ford showed up to training camp last summer with a broken foot and had to adapt to playing with a screw in his shoe during the season. The durable Rhett Ellison caught a career-high 19 passes on 26 targets, but likely isn't athletic enough to be the downfield option the Vikings need with Turner, who pushed for the team to target Pruitt.

"Norv was pretty adamant throughout the draft about [Pruitt] is a guy that we're really intrigued with. He runs 4.5 [40-yard dash]," coach Mike Zimmer said. "And it's really important for the tight ends in our offense, as you know. [Turner] had a lot of say on that one."

Sounds like Pruitt has a major end road with Norv Turner. I am guessing Ford, Ellison, Or Bostick don't make the team and Pruitt does earn a spot.

I know Gates was a pro bowler once Norv should up, in SD