The Minnesota Vikings don’t expect gaudy pass receiving numbers out of the tight end position.  What they do expect is a good blocking effort in the running game and they get that from this group.  28-year old Visanthe Shiancoe is a good blocker but he can also catch a pass once in a while.  He played in all 16 games for the Vikings last season and he caught 27 passes for 323 yards (12.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Look for him to catch maybe a few more passes this season for the Vikings.  Shiancoe has now played in 80 games in his NFL career and he has caught 62 passes for 576 yards (9.3 avg) with 4 TD grabs.

31-year old Jim Kleinsasser is a huge converted fullback at 6′3″, 272 pounds and blocking is his game.  He played in all 16 games for the Vikings last season and he caught 4 passes for 43 yards (10.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Don’t look for him to catch too many passes this season either as that’s not what he’s paid for.  Kleinsasser has now played in 117 games in his NFL career and he has caught 158 passes for 1374 yards (8.7 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  He has also carried the football 43 times for 147 yards (3.4 ypc) with 1 TD run but his running days appear over.

24-year old Garrett Mills is more of a receiver than blocker but he’s clearly #3 in line at tight end so he likely won’t get much playing time.  Mills played in 1 game for the Vikings last season and he caught 2 passes for 26 yards (13.0 avg).

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  C-