Vikings OC Norv Turner explains why Kyle Rudolph's targets are down:
"We’ve got a rookie [T.J. Clemmings] playing right tackle and every week it seems like we’re playing the best pass-rusher in the league," Turner said. "We’ve got another really good one this week. We can’t leave our linemen hanging and leave them out there by themselves. When you’re playing three wide receivers as much as we are, the tight end isn’t as big of a part on a lot of the routes. Right now, his contribution a lot of the time is making sure we’re solid there at the right tackle and then continuing on into his route. If you have to hit a guy or help or bang a guy, some of your routes get compromised, but we’re having success getting the ball to the other guys and that’s what we’re trying to accomplish."
Rudolph has 30 targets on 335 snaps for a target rate of 9.0%. As a comparison, Delanie Walker has been targeted on 17.4% of his snaps. At this point, Rudolph is too touchdown dependent to be used as an every-week starter.
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