10 Vikings Potential X-Factors in 2020: Irv Smith, Jr.

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"You should be swimming [at that point as a rookie], because they're expecting a lot out of you and throwing a lot on your plate," said Rudolph, the longest-tenured Viking. "Now, you just see a much higher comfort level mentally, being that he's gone through it all before, he knows what to expect, he knows the offense."


Smith said Kubiak told him from the "get-go" that a lot was going to be put on his plate. Lessons on the Y tight end, F tight end and fullback positions followed, building on what Smith learned at Alabama.


"That's what they drafted me for, that's why they brought me here, to come in and [make] an impact," Smith said. "I just feel like each day I would try to focus on something little, a small detail, and just come and take each day with a new approach."


Kubiak said this summer that there's a "big, big upside" to Smith for multiple reasons.


"I love Irv as a kid and a competitor. He really enjoys coming to work every day," Kubiak said. "And he's benefited from sitting right there next to Rudy every day and watching a seasoned pro go about it. I think there's a lot more there, and Irv's going to give it to us, and I've got to make sure I get him in position to do that."


More recently, Kubiak explained the usual differentiation between Y and F tight ends.


"Usually you play one that's more physical at the Y and a little bit more of a route runner at the F, but with our group they're interchangeable, and that's really good with Rudy, [Tyler Conklin] and Irv and Brandon [Dillon] coming on, and Nakia [Griffin-Stewart] is a good-looking young athlete that can run."


Zone Coverage's Sam Ekstrom last year recapped the impact that tight ends had for Houston during Kubiak's time as the Texans head coach, noting they were one of four teams to total more than 8,000 receiving yards by tight ends from 2006-13.


The Vikings appear built to use heavy personnel for run plays or sell play-action, forcing reactions by defenders that will create openings or engineer matchups favorable for the offense.


Zimmer said Smith has "a skill set that we need to be able to utilize with the offense" to get linebackers, safeties "and actually sometimes" cornerbacks in space and allow Cousins to pick the matchup he wants to target.


"We're always trying to look for matchups we can exploit," Zimmer said.


Cousins on Wednesday pointed out the role that tight ends and fullback C.J. Ham played in the passing game last season while Thielen was out with an injury.