Fantasy Football: 4 Things We Learned From Week 6

Kyle Rudolph Is Becoming a Target Monster

Much has been written about the Vikings offense following Dalvin Cook's season-ending knee injury, but most of that writing has focused on Minnesota's running back situation.

One of the quieter beneficiaries of Cook's injury has been Kyle Rudolph. After finishing last season as a top fantasy tight end, Rudolph has had a slow start to 2017. He totaled just 15 targets over the Vikings' first four games, which was good for just an 11 percent share of the team's passing targets per AirYards.com.

However, in the two full games without Cook, Rudolph's target share has leapt up to a 26 percent. This was also aided by the injury that sidelined Stefon Diggs during last week's match against the Bears and had him ruled out in Week 6, but this spike in Rudolph's usage should continue going forward even when Diggs returns.

Per Graham Barfield, Diggs just isn't the same player when he's on an injury report. If Diggs is hampered, Rudolph should be able to hang onto his role as the number-two option in that passing game behind Adam Thielen while he recovers.

The volume alone -- his 18 targets over the last two weeks ranks second among tight ends -- makes him a must start in fantasy for at least as long as Diggs is on the injury report, and maybe even after that.