Josh Oliver, Vikings
Getty
Tight end Josh Oliver of the Minnesota Vikings.
The Minnesota Vikings aren’t short on pass-catchers this season, though the group could be a bit depleted to begin the campaign.
Jordan Addison will miss three games due to a league suspension, while Jalen Nailor remains a question mark for Week 1 with a hand injury. However, the team said recently it expects Nailor will return to healthy status by the season opener against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on September 8.
Superstar WR1 Justin Jefferson continues to deal with a hamstring issue that the team will monitor as the season goes along, while top tight end T.J. Hockenson battled some injury problems during the offseason but should be ready to go alongside Jefferson six days from now in the Windy City.
Minnesota traded multiple picks to the Carolina Panthers last week to reunite with 35-year-old wideout Adam Thielen, who adds both depth and experience to the wide receivers room. So while there are some availability questions and lingering injury concerns, if and when the Vikings get to full strength, they should be fully equipped to help second-year QB (and first-year starter) J.J. McCarthy battle through the NFL growing pains and hit his ceiling in 2025.
Despite all of that firepower, an interesting prediction came down from David Stefano of SB Nation’s the Daily Norseman on Tuesday, September 2: that TE2 Josh Oliver will have a career year in the four major pass-catching categories in 2025.
“Oliver sets career highs in targets, receptions, yards and TDs with more two-TE sets,” Stefano wrote.
Josh Oliver Set Career Highs Across Board in Each of First 2 Seasons With Vikings
Josh Oliver, Minnesota Vikings
GettyTight end Josh Oliver of the Minnesota Vikings.
Oliver signed a three-year deal worth $21 million to join the Vikings in March 2023, then inked a three-year contract extension with the team for $23.25 million in early June of this year that runs through the 2028 campaign.
Now 28 years old, Oliver initially joined the Minnesota offense to serve as the primary blocker from the tight end position. And while he will continue in that role, Kevin O’Connell and company may also keep expanding his portion of work in the pass game.
Oliver has produced identical career highs of 28 targets and 22 receptions in each of his first two years in Minnesota. He set a career high of 213 receiving yards in 2o23 and tied a career high of two TDs that same season. Oliver then reset those highs in 2024 with 258 yards and three TDs through the air.
Higher Usage for Josh Oliver Potentially Part of Vikings’ Strategy to Ease QB J.J. McCarthy Into NFL Career
J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings
GettyQuarterback J.J. McCarthy of the Minnesota Vikings.
As such, it won’t take a massive amount of attention from O’Connell and McCarthy for Oliver to exceed all of those numbers.
Stefano’s prediction speaks more to the kind of offensive schemes Minnesota will lean into as it brings along a 22-year-old signal-caller with zero regular-season experience, who will nevertheless start Week 1 on national television.
Double tight end sets add more blockers in the run game, which the Vikings will focus on after re-signing veteran Aaron Jones and trading for Jordan Mason.
Tight end routes often develop more quickly than those of outside receivers and typically finish in the short and intermediate passing zones, which should allow McCarthy to get rid of the football more quickly and with less risk as he acclimates to the NFL game.