Tyler Conklin

In his third season with the Vikings, the 2018 fifth-round pick set career highs in receptions and yards. The tight end also scored his first NFL touchdown and began to show his ability as a pass catcher near the end of the season after No. 2 TE Kyle Rudolph landed on injured reserve. Conklin had 15 receptions for 168 yards and a score over the last four games with Rudolph out. After Rudolph's release, Conklin was locked in for the No. 2 spot, which may now equate to the No. 1 assignment with starter Irv Smith requiring season-ending meniscus surgery in early September. The Vikings did trade for Chris Herndon at the end of the preseason, but he's done little to nothing since his promising rookie season in 2018. As such, Conklin could open the year in a three-down role, potentially seeing a handful of targets per week.

The 2018 fifth-round pick saw offensive snaps in every game during his rookie campaign, but Conklin only played double-digit snaps in three of those contests. Needless to say, he's likely buried in the depth chart behind Kyle Rudolph and most recent second-round pick Irv Smith Jr., but it's possible the former winds up being traded or released during the lead up to the 2019 campaign. It wouldn't necessarily preclude Conklin's fantasy stardom, but were that event to occur he could wind up seeing more time as a run-blocking option considering Smith's rather diminutive frame (6-3, 242 pounds) for the position.

Conklin (6-3, 254 pounds) is yet another example of a converted basketball player whose skills translated to the gridiron. Playing tight end at Central Michigan, Conklin showed ability as both a receiver and in-line blocker during his two seasons in college and then backed up his play by posting decent testing scores at the combine – headlined by a 38-inch vertical. In Minnesota, the fifth-round rookie could eventually see action in two-TE sets, but he'll need to unseat both David Morgan and Blake Bell to do so.