SteelKing728 Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 (edited) 11 hours ago, vike daddy said: good thing you're not the coach or calling plays, lol. they wouldn't have signed him to the contract they did to just use him as a secondary checkdown receiver. he'll be part of the illusion of complexity approach, i betcha. I think the NFL is moving more towards heavy run schemes/power blocking and our analytics GM saw that and is staying ahead of the trend. Andy Reid talked about this openly earlier this offseason. What I found surprising is that we kept CJ Ham on the roster, or any FB at all. https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/2023/05/25/kansas-city-chiefs-andy-reid-fullback-tight-end-noah-gray-transition-comments/ Edited June 12, 2023 by SteelKing728 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 Josh Oliver is the TE version of CJ Ham. People may have forgotten that Ham would never be in the NFL right now if he had not converted to FB, as he originally started with the Vikings as a HB. Ham still gives sort of a HB slant to the FB position and can run and catch the ball a little bit better than most FBs have done in the past. Oliver will be in a similar style as a TE, he has largely been used more as a physical blocking type TE, but his past suggests that he can be more of a receiving type of TE than he has been asked to be. He may not be used frequently as a receiving TE, but when he is asked to be, he will likely be more effective than most will anticipate. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted June 12, 2023 Share Posted June 12, 2023 1 hour ago, SteelKing728 said: What I found surprising is that we kept CJ Ham on the roster, or any FB at all. he's still useful as a player, and more importantly is an important part of the player leadership group. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 I recently wrote about the Vikings believing Josh Oliver can be more than a blocker in their offense, and there was No. 84 on Wednesday using his big frame to catch a touchdown pass in a red zone period. https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/vikings-minicamp-recap-day-2-harrison-smith-lewis-cine-get-ints Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 33 minutes ago, vike daddy said: I recently wrote about the Vikings believing Josh Oliver can be more than a blocker in their offense, and there was No. 84 on Wednesday using his big frame to catch a touchdown pass in a red zone period. https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/vikings-minicamp-recap-day-2-harrison-smith-lewis-cine-get-ints I feel like no 84 ought to be retired but maybe that’s just me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 19 minutes ago, vikingsrule said: I feel like no 84 ought to be retired but maybe that’s just me. I personally feel that neither 80 or 84 should be retired, but maybe that's just me. 🤣 I believe that number retirements should be extremely rare and for very specific situations. I was not a huge fan of retiring Cris Carter's number. Even though he was a HoF level player, I don't think he was transcendent enough to warrant number retirement. Hell, if JJ continues at this pace for his entire career, he'd have a far more legitimate claim for number retirement (although that's preposterous to say at this time). As far as #84 goes, he may be more worthy than #80 for his transcendent nature, I can't move past the character issues that he had while here. If he didn't have those issues, he'd have been a slam dunk choice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 I’m of the belief that numbers shouldn’t be retired. The ring of honor, or even a statue at the stadium is more than enough. Especially, when you can simply give a number to a player at a different position. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikeManDan Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 I'm excited to see a little more "bully-ball" with Oliver in the mix. Can't sleep on him as a receiving threat either, I think he'll make some timely plays for us in the passing game. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking Posted June 25, 2023 Share Posted June 25, 2023 I like the signing - elite run blocking TE with a lot of room left to grow in the passing game. I really want to see Oliver lined up next to Darrisaw with Hockenson as a "big slot" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vike daddy Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 The addition of Josh Oliver was one of the more puzzling moves of the offseason, as the Vikings gave him a three-year, $21 million contract to play beside Hockenson. With Hockenson signing the largest contract for a tight end in NFL history on Thursday morning, the Oliver move could have even more questions, but his value is more than just a blocker. Oliver was a receiving specialist during his collegiate career at San Jose State, catching 56 passes for 709 yards and four touchdowns during his senior season. After spending a year with the Jaguars and missing a season due to injury, Oliver resurfaced with the Baltimore Ravens and was the NFL’s second-best run-blocking tight end behind Isaiah Likely last season. Oliver’s receiving ability hasn’t shined through yet as he had just 14 catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns last season, but his 6-foot-5, 249-pound frame screams “Red Zone Target” and he could be used as a diversion to help take pressure off of Hockenson and Jefferson. Oliver isn’t going to become an All-Pro, but after a strong training camp, he appears ready to make a major impact both in the running game and as a receiver. https://thevikingage.com/posts/10-predictions-minnesota-vikings-2023-season/6?fbclid=IwAR3xRIMvI4lFlGOEX6gvZeAN_Cm8mt_x01OY43i9b-7ntfaI4meF_1-wssI 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 13 hours ago, vike daddy said: The addition of Josh Oliver was one of the more puzzling moves of the offseason, as the Vikings gave him a three-year, $21 million contract to play beside Hockenson. With Hockenson signing the largest contract for a tight end in NFL history on Thursday morning, the Oliver move could have even more questions, but his value is more than just a blocker. Oliver was a receiving specialist during his collegiate career at San Jose State, catching 56 passes for 709 yards and four touchdowns during his senior season. After spending a year with the Jaguars and missing a season due to injury, Oliver resurfaced with the Baltimore Ravens and was the NFL’s second-best run-blocking tight end behind Isaiah Likely last season. Oliver’s receiving ability hasn’t shined through yet as he had just 14 catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns last season, but his 6-foot-5, 249-pound frame screams “Red Zone Target” and he could be used as a diversion to help take pressure off of Hockenson and Jefferson. Oliver isn’t going to become an All-Pro, but after a strong training camp, he appears ready to make a major impact both in the running game and as a receiver. https://thevikingage.com/posts/10-predictions-minnesota-vikings-2023-season/6?fbclid=IwAR3xRIMvI4lFlGOEX6gvZeAN_Cm8mt_x01OY43i9b-7ntfaI4meF_1-wssI I see Hockenson and Oliver having the potential to be a poor man’s Gronk/Hernandez. Oliver is an elite blocker and is very athletic and Hockenson is that receiving specialist/mismatch guy. Of course, Oliver is going to have to catch passes for it to work in the same way, but being behind Andrews in what was a run-first scheme didn’t help him to show off his receiving skills. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrplChilPill Posted September 15, 2023 Share Posted September 15, 2023 So far, he's not helped the blocking at all. Still hate the signing. Still don't understand not signing actual OL. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Plissken Posted September 15, 2023 Share Posted September 15, 2023 15 minutes ago, PrplChilPill said: So far, he's not helped the blocking at all. Still hate the signing. Still don't understand not signing actual OL. Disagree with the first part. One player can only do so much. OL problems aren’t on TE any more than on Darrisaw (when healthy) or O’Neill. Agree with not addressing IOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule Posted September 15, 2023 Share Posted September 15, 2023 15 minutes ago, PrplChilPill said: So far, he's not helped the blocking at all. Still hate the signing. Still don't understand not signing actual OL. To be fair, depth is killing the OL more than anything. Is that what you’re getting at? Tackles are fine when healthy but maybe the Guards need to be replaced? Wasnt a fan of the move but it all sounded good on paper. However, Osborn has been disappointing this year so we’re not losing much when Oliver is on the field. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CriminalMind Posted September 15, 2023 Share Posted September 15, 2023 On 3/13/2023 at 3:57 PM, CriminalMind said: Not a fan of this move at this time, even if this is “fair market value”. a blocking TE, when i suspect we’re going to try and throw downfield more…. We still have IOL positions to potentially sign. I would have liked to see them go after way more impactful FAs earlier in the process, but of course FAs might also have less interest in a viking rebuilding plan (2023). Still think this was a bad move. They should build the trenches, the OL who plays ~99% of snaps (run and pass plays) is so much more valuable then a blocking TE playing on some run plays. I just don’t understand 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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