Johnny

Mundt

Mundt had a 30-yard gain called back by holding in the third quarter. He has been serving as the Vikings’ starting tight end with T.J. Hockenson on the PUP list, but that should come to an end with the latter likely to return in Week 7. Mundt should not be rostered in even the deepest of fantasy leagues.

You don’t need to roster him. Josh Oliver went catchless. The Vikings are on bye next week, and Mundt will be working on his blocking rather than his receiving.

Mundt caught a short touchdown from Sam Darnold between two defenders in the fourth quarter to put the game away for Minnesota. Mundt now has three targets in each of the Vikings’ three regular season games. He’s still splitting tight end snaps with Josh Oliver.

Mundt ran a route on 26 of Sam Darnold’s 31 drop backs, taking over the pass-catching role after splitting duties with Josh Oliver in Week 1 against the Giants. Oliver logged just eight routes in Week 2. Until TJ Hockenson returns from injury, it appears Mundt is the Vikings’ primary pass-catching tight end.

Mundt and Josh Oliver played to a standstill in T.J. Hockenson’s absence. For now, we haven’t seen enough to declare Mundt a TE2 streaming candidate.

Hockenson missing the first month of the regular season was widely expected following his late-season knee injury in 2023. ESPN has reported that the Vikings expect Hockenson to return to the team’s starting lineup sometime in the first half of the season. We might not see the star tight end at full health until well into the season’s second half. Robert Tonyan, Johnny Mundt, and Josh Oliver will likely rotate tight end snaps in Hockenson’s absence.

O’Connell stopped short of declaring an expected return-to-play date before saying the team wants Tonyan to “take part” in preseason play. Vikings coaches were undoubtedly hoping one of their veteran tight ends would establish himself as an early-season replacement for recovering starter T.J. Hockenson (ACL and MCL). Tonyan’s back issue leaves the team with Josh Oliver and Johnny Mundt for now. Both players respectably averaged 1.50 yards per route run last year while earning 18.0-plus-percent target rates. The competition’s winner could have streaming viability in September.

Hockenson suffered a torn ACL and MCL in last year’s Week 16 loss to the Lions. The veteran tight end said he and the team are “taking it day by day, week by week” and noted that there are “so many variables” that one can go through during the rehab process. Hockenson also added he’s “doing really good right now,” which is an encouraging sign for the Vikings and fantasy managers. Still, the late timing of his injury could result in him missing time early in the season as he continues his recovery. The Vikings have Josh Oliver and Johnny Mundt both on the roster and also signed Robert Tonyan to a contract earlier this week. If they don’t feel like Hockenson is ready to go, they have the players in place to wait out his recovery should it continue into the regular season.

Mundt, whose deal is worth $2.5 million per Tom Pelissero, spent the first five years of his career with the Rams before following Kevin O’Connell to Minnesota. Though he has remained a backup with the Vikings, his receiving numbers are up across the board. He has 36 catches for 312 yards and two scores in two seasons as a Viking. Mundt isn’t on the fantasy radar but is a solid depth option for Minnesota.

Mundt did his best to fill in for the injured T.J. Hockenson, playing well ahead of fellow tight end Josh Oliver as the more reliable pass-catching option. Even though he scored in the loss, Mundt committed a costly drop that was ultimately picked off by the Packers in the first half.