Does Josh Oliver See an Expanded Role in Year 2 as a Viking?
Few, if any, could have foreseen the deal for Josh Oliver during the 2023 offseason.
T.J. Hockenson had just been added in a bold in-season trade, seemingly nullifying the need for major help at tight end. Kwesi Adodo-Mensah, as he often does, understood the situation differently. He tossed over a three-year contract to the former Raven. The contract promises to pay $21 million over that time, a pretty major amount given that Oliver had never put up gaudy receiving statistics. Is there any sense that the stats grow more abundant in 2024?
Josh Oliver and the Potential for Tight End Targets
Last offseason, the thinking was that having Hockenson meant that another well-paid tight end wouldn’t be necessary. Fast forward to the current offseason and Hockenson looks like he may need to miss a portion of the season.
So, time for the other well-paid TE — Josh Oliver — to get more opportunity, right?
Earlier in the week, Josh Frey took on the subject for PurplePTSD. The idea was that Oliver, who has never played more than 50% of his team’s offensive snaps in a season, could be in a position to take on a more prominent role.
“Obviously, Josh Oliver’s role as TE1 to begin the season is dependent on a couple different scenarios playing out,” Frey explains. “T.J. Hockenson tore his ACL and MCL last December and is very likely to miss at least a few weeks to begin the season. If that is the case, Oliver’s snaps will be destined to increase at the start of the season.”
Frey goes on: “Additionally, Oliver will have to beat out Johnny Mundt for the job. Mundt actually took on the majority of the receiving duties down the stretch of the 2023 campaign in Hockenson’s absence, which could spoil any plans for Oliver to take on the lead role if he is unable to outperform the former Ram in training camp.”
Hockenson is a wonderfully gifted athlete who can do a ton of damage in the intermediate area of the field. Expecting Oliver to be a one-for-one replacement isn’t fair. The TE2 is known more as a blocker than as an exemplary pass catcher.
And yet one wonders if there’s more in store for Mr. Oliver. Handing over such a lucrative contract speaks to Minnesota’s confidence in his abilities, and one wonders if that’ll mean more than just being a great blocker (as important as that can be).
Quarterbacks often look toward their TEs in the passing game since they can be a matchup problem. Too large for a defensive back, too athletic for a linebacker. Not always true, of course, but true enough to be a common understanding of how tight ends can impact an offense.
In 2023, Oliver offered a career-high 22 catches and 213 yards to Minnesota’s offense. The pair of touchdowns matched his career high. He did so while playing 466 snaps. Maybe the snap count soars a bit higher as the stats take a similar leap forward.
Oliver turned 27 back in March.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.