It’s amazing to me that the Minnesota Vikings gave Visanthe Shiancoe so much money to be their starting TE.  He has shown nothing in the past to make anyone think he can be an impact player in the passing game but it appears that the Vikings didn’t get the memo.  Shiancoe played in 16 games (4 starts) for the Giants last season and he caught 12 whole passes for a whopping 81 yards (6.8 avg) with 0 TDs!  Those are not the numbers of a starting TE.   He has now played in 64 games (23 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 35 passes for 253 yards (7.2 avg) with 3 TD grabs.

Jim Kleinsasser will back up Shiancoe and he’s primarily a blocker that will catch a pass every once in a while.  He played in 16 games (12 starts) last season for the Vikings and he caught 7 passes for 47 yards (6.7 avg) with 0 TDs.  Don’t expect much more out of him in 2007 as he will not be on the field as much.  The converted fullback has now played in 101 games (83 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 154 passes for 1,331 yards (8.6 avg) with 5 TD grabs and he has also carried the football 43 times for 147 yards (3.4 ypc) with 1 TD run.

Richard Owens will be the #3 TE on the Vikings and he doesn’t add much to the offense.  He played in 16 games (2 starts) last season and he caught 6 passes for 45 yards (7.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.   He has now played in 39 games (6 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 16 passes for 132 yards (8.3 avg) with 1 TD.