It’s the latest investment the Vikings have made in a muscular front, following the free-agent additions of Ryan Kelly and Will Fries and the April selection of Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson in the first round of the draft.
To offensive coordinator Wes Phillips, the decision to solidify Oliver’s future in Minnesota was a wise one.
“No disrespect to anyone else, but I think Josh Oliver is the best blocking ‘Y’ [tight end] with pass game value in the NFL,” Phillips said. “A lot of times, those [defensive] guys say, ‘You never let a tight end block. You never let a tight end pass protect on you.’ Josh is kind of a different human when it comes to that. We try to get him to walk off the bus first anytime we’re traveling.“
Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips works with his players during the second day of mandatory minicamp on Wednesday. (Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Oliver played 55.6% of the Vikings’ offensive snaps a year ago, with T.J. Hockenson returning from a torn ACL in October. The Vikings have Hockenson healthy this year, but a team that also added running back Jordan Mason could employ Oliver in some heavier personnel groups, either to run up the middle or throw against teams that keep linebackers on the field.
“That’s what you love,” Phillips said. “Oliver’s a big ‘Y’ who has pass game value. T.J. is the ‘F,’ who’s a great receiver, but can run block. So they have to make a decision. They want to play smaller people, try to defend against the pass, you get all kinds of athletes on the field that can make them pay there with the run game. Base defense; alright, maybe we want to throw the football, but we still have the opportunity to run. It just kind of opens up everything when you have two guys like that.”