The Vikings Will Have a Bonus Rookie in 2026
In the recent draft, the Vikings added nine new players in an attempt to find new franchise cornerstones. A year ago, the class included only five players, as several picks had departed earlier in trades.
Of those five guys, first-round guard Donovan Jackson was the only key contributor, while the others were role players at best. Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins was a rotational defensive lineman in his rookie season and receiver Tai Felton helped the special teams unit in coverage. Linebacker Kobe King was cut during the season.
The fifth rookie, however, had his rookie year postponed to 2026 and could almost be viewed as the tenth rookie of this year’s class. Tight end Gavin Bartholomew missed his entire debut season due to a back injury suffered in the summer.
Drafted with the 202nd pick, a sixth-rounder, Bartholomew was supposed to bolster the tight end depth behind top receiving threat T.J. Hockenson and blocking specialist Josh Oliver. The Pittsburgh product couldn’t snag the TE3 role because he never had the opportunity to compete for it, due to his absence from training camp.
Throughout the season, five tight ends saw the field. Hockenson headlined the crew, playing 691 offensive snaps. Oliver was second with 400. Fellow rookie Ben Yurosek logged another 116, and mid-season addition Ben Sims registered 83. Nick Vannett, who had been on the practice squad until the Los Angeles Rams grabbed him, appeared 31 times.
The good news for the official sophomore Bartholomew is that he has pretty much the same competition he would’ve faced last training camp. No new tight end was added in the draft or in free agency. Pickups Vannett and Sims have left, and Yurosek is now the man to beat. Practice-squadder Bryson Nesbit completes the group.
Mostly used as an extra blocker, Yurosek caught two passes for 14 yards and is far from unbeatable.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell was pleased with Bartholomew shortly after his arrival and said last May: “Gavin, you know, it’s always a position that sometimes between the film evaluation, the Pro Day, seeing the tape of it, you just hope they show up and look the way you hope they look. And Gavin definitely did.”
In college, Bartholomew caught 105 passes for 1,257 yards and found paydirt 11 times.
As is the case for most young players at that position, the blocking aspect needed refinement, but a solid athletic profile and some decent numbers at Pitt made him an intriguing prospect, enough for the Vikings to spend a sixth-round pick on him.
His back injury should be in the rearview mirror. He returned to practice late last season and the Vikings could’ve activated him down the stretch. Ultimately, they opted to keep him sidelined for the last two games as well and make the redshirt season official.
His NFL debut could come as early as September. He’ll have to show that he was actually worth the draft capital by distancing himself from Yurosek in the TE3 sweepstakes.
Bartholomew just turned 23 and could be viewed as an additional rookie for Minnesota.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.