Summer Sleeper: Minnesota Vikings

Andrew Lightner Posted On August 14, 2016

We continue our annual 32-part Summer Sleeper series where DLF scribes identify a lightly-touted player on each NFL roster who may be worthy of your consideration. Our subjects all have varying levels of “sleeperness,” but each merits a bit of in-depth discussion here in the Premium Content section.

To help everybody along, we are going to be categorizing our sleepers under one of three headings:

Super Deep Sleepers – Players who aren’t roster-worthy in 12-team leagues, but are still worth keeping an eye on.
Deep Sleepers – An end of the roster player who is more often than not on the waiver wire in 12-team leagues.
Sleeper – A likely rostered player who makes for a good trade target. Their startup ADP puts them out of the top-175 or so.

Because we aren’t going give you the likes of mainstream sleepers like Tyler Lockett or Carlos Hyde, most of these players will undoubtedly fizzle. All we are asking is for you to keep an open mind and perhaps be willing to make room for one of these players on your bench. You never know when the next Willie Snead is going to spring up. Feel free to add your own thoughts about our choice for the designated sleeper, or nominate one of your own in the comments below.

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MyCole Pruitt, TE – (deep sleeper)

Let’s face it — dynasty players love players with a high athletic profile. Our eyes light up and our mouths salivate when we come across these uber athletes, fantasizing over the possibilities these physical specimens bring if they put it all together. MyCole Pruitt is one of those players who possesses loads of athleticism. If you take a look at Pruitt’s page on playerprofiler.com, his athleticism is evident; boasting a 90th percent in the 40 yard dash, 84th percent in height adjusted speed score, and 85th percent in burst score.

A small school darling, MyCole Pruitt attended Southern Illinois University, where he was a top FCS tight end. His college career numbers of 221 receptions, 2,601 yards, and 25 touchdowns made him Missouri Valley Football Conference’s best tight end in it’s history. Other accolades included being a consensus all-american for two seasons, and a first team all-MVFC for three straight seasons. Against Southern Illinois’ biggest opponent in 2014, Purdue, Pruitt caught 10 balls for 136 yards.

One of the reasons Pruitt makes an intriguing sleeper is that Kyle Rudolph is the only tight end currently sitting ahead of him on the depth chart. A tight end who I feel has always been overrated in dynasty, Rudolph is a player who’s potential has never been fully realized on the football field. There have always been flashes shown, but in regards to fantasy production, the former Notre Dame alum has been more name than substance. In fact, Rudolph has only topped 50 receptions once in his career, and never exceeded 500 yards in a season. Some will try to defend him as some sort of consistent red zone threat. However, outside of 2012 when he had nine touchdowns, he’s had ten touchdowns in the past three seasons combined.

So what stands in the way of MyCole Pruitt’s chances of breaking out? The biggest concern is the offense he is in. The Minnesota Vikings are one of lowest volume passing teams in the league. This could change down the road when (and if) one of the greatest running backs to ever grace the gridiron, Adrian Peterson, ever slows down or retires. Until then, however, the Vikings will continue to be a run first football team. On top of it, one can assume that Laquon Treadwell and Stefon Diggs will likely be the top two in the pecking order of receiving now and in the future of the Vikings’ passing game. Throw in Jerick McKinnon, a player that is talked about becoming more involved in the offense, and there just doesn’t seem to be many targets to find in an offense who doesn’t throw the ball often. Of course, Kyle Rudolph is still on the team as well, and is signed through the 2019 season making an average salary of 7.3 million per season. Obviously, the Vikings like what Rudolph brings to the table; and while I spent the above paragraph critiquing the starting tight end, he is a better real life football player than what he offers in terms of fantasy.

Because of the roadblocks I mentioned, Pruitt’s chances of becoming fantasy relevant are certainly bleak on the surface. In large roster dynasty leagues, MyCole Pruitt may already be stashed at the end of someone’s roster. In smaller sized leagues, he’s probably found on the waiver wire. While I definitely don’t consider him a player dynasty owners should be clamoring to add, Pruitt should be a player on your watch list. The physical attributes are there to make Pruitt a versatile receiving threat on the football field. Getting on the field and a chance to show what he may be able to do is the main hurdle keeping Pruitt from being nothing more than a player to keep an eye on.

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