Sleeper Profile: Kyle Rudolph

Hello readers, my name is Josh and I am the newest writer here at Future of Fantasy. I am excited to start up here after starting my own blog about a year ago. I will be contributing NFL fantasy articles, and it’s about time for everyone’s drafts! I hope you have started your draft prep already, but if you haven’t consider this your start! Leading up to the beginning of the season I will be writing some articles based on guys I think are sleepers and guys I think will be busts for the upcoming season. It is important to note that when you see the term sleeper, we are talking about a player expected to perform better than players going in similar rounds in drafts. That doesn’t mean that you should reach terribly far up in the draft to take this player. Similarly, a bust does not mean that the player being discussed should not be drafted or will be a total waste. Rather, the term means that the player is one I would expect to perform under expectations and therefore is not worth the value for where they are normally being taken. I hope this all makes sense. Let’s take a look at our first sleeper.

Kyle Rudolph is a 6’6″ 258lb TE target for the Minnesota Vikings. This 2nd year TE out of Notre Dame had a modest rookie season last year posting a 26, 249, 3 line.  He is generally being taken as the 14th-18th  TE so far in fantasy drafts, placing him in the solid backup territory.  So why are we high on him for this season?

Rudolph has gained high praise from both coaches and players alike so far this season. The biggest praise has come from Quarterback Christian Ponder however, and that may be the biggest endorsement. A good TE can be a young QB’s best friend and Rudolph certainly is a big target. He has displayed excellent hands throughout camp and should easily double his totals from last season. Some outlets have warned that new signing John Carlson could take too many targets from Rudolph. I’m not so worried as Carlson hasn’t really been a big factor the past few seasons and is already dealing with some injuries.

Basically I think Rudolph will end up as a high end backup TE, and he might even possibly turn into a weekly starter. If you miss out on one of the top TEs in the early rounds, look to target Rudolph an the later rounds. I’m expecting a final line somewhere around 55-65, 590-690, 6-8 line for Rudolph barring any serious injuries which should be plenty useful.