Kyle Rudolph

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Kyle Rudolph
refer to caption
Rudolph at the 2012 Pro Bowl.
No. 82 Minnesota Vikings
Position: Tight end
Personal information
Date of birth: (1989-11-09) November 9, 1989 (age 34)
Place of birth: Cincinnati, Ohio
Height: Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Weight: Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Career information
High school: Cincinnati (OH) Elder
College: Notre Dame
NFL draft: 2011 / Round: 2 / Pick: 43
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
NFL
High school
Career NFL statistics as of Week 16, 2015
Receptions: 182
Receiving yards: 1,781
Touchdowns: 22
Player stats at NFL.com

Kyle Daniel Rudolph[1] (born November 9, 1989) is an American football tight end for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). Rudolph played college football for the University of Notre Dame. He was drafted by the Vikings in the second round, 43rd overall of the 2011 NFL Draft. He was selected for the Pro Bowl following the 2012 NFL season.

Early years

Rudolph attended Elder High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a junior, he caught 30 passes for 400 yards and seven touchdowns en route to earning first-team All-city and All-conference honors. As a senior in 2008, he was named first-team All-American by USA Today after totaling 37 receptions for 673 yards (18.2 yards per catch) and 11 touchdowns.[2] He was placed on the Scout.com All-America first team and was the lone tight end among the 11 finalists for the high school Maxwell Award. He received first-team All-Southwest Ohio as a senior after being named second team as a junior and was named second-team All-state by the Associated Press. Following his senior season, Rudolph was invited to play in the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl held in San Antonio, Texas.[3]

Also an accomplished basketball player, Rudolph played center for his high school team and was the conference player of the year three times and All-Southwest Ohio in 2007. He is currently the second-leading scorer in school history and became just the second Panther to surpass 1,000 career points. He set the school record for most career rebounds when he corralled his 568th rebound on Jan. 11, 2008. Against Moeller (No. 1 in Ohio, No. 9 in the nation) on Jan. 25, 2008, he scored 25 of Elder's 52 points as the Panthers almost upset the top-ranked team in Ohio, 58-52.

Recruiting

Rudolph was rated as the best tight end and 20th best overall recruit in the class of 2008 according to Rivals.com.[4] He was named the second-best player and the top tight end in the Detroit Free Press' Best of the Midwest Top 20 list. He was considered the No. 1 tight end in the recruiting class and the 20th-best prospect in the nation by Tom Lemming. He was ranked 21st in the country and No. 2 in the state of Ohio by Scout.com. He was also considered the 23rd-best player by Sports Illustrated. He accepted a scholarship offer from Notre Dame over Michigan, Tennessee, and Ohio State.

College career

Freshman season (2008)

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

As a freshman in 2008, Rudolph became the first tight end in Notre Dame history to start all 13 games as a freshman and the first freshman to ever start a season opener at tight end for Notre Dame.[5] He made his career debut in the season opener against San Diego State and brought in his first career reception for five yards during the victory. In week 3, he posted his first multi-reception game (two catches for 29 yards) of his career against Michigan State, with both catches traveling for 10-plus yards and resulting in first downs against the Spartans. The following week, he hauled in three passes for 32 yards, with a long of 19, while also recording the first touchdown catch of his career in the Irish' 38-21 win over Purdue. In week 5, he registered season-highs in receptions (5) and receiving yards (70) and added his second and final touchdown of the season versus Stanford. He hauled in two catches for 26 yards against Pittsburgh, setting a new school record for receptions by a freshmen tight end in a single season during the game. In week 11, he established a school record for single-season receiving yards by a freshman tight end during the game against Syracuse. In the 2008 Hawaii Bowl game, he caught four passes for a season-high 78 yards. His 29-yard reception against the Warriors also set a season-best long reception. Rudolph finished his first year with the Irish with 29 receptions for 340 yards (11.7 avg.) and two touchdowns.

Sophomore season (2009)

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

As a sophomore in 2009, Rudolph participated in only ten games with nine starts, missing three due to a shoulder injury and totaling 275:59 of playing time while making 57 special-teams appearances.[6] He was named semifinalist for the John Mackey Award (presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end) and was the only sophomore to be named semifinalist. He hauled in four catches for 29 yards and a touchdown in the opener against Nevada. In week 3, he set a then career-high with 95 receiving yards against Michigan State including a season-long 52-yard reception. His performance against the Spartans earned him John Mackey Tight End of the Week honors. He nabbed touchdown catches in back-to-back weeks against Purdue and Washington, with the first coming against the Boilermackers when there were only 24 seconds remaining in the game on a fourth-and-goal situation that sealed Notre Dame's win; the second touchdown reception against Washington came with less than two minutes remaining in regulation and gave the Irish the lead. He was voted by his teammates to represent tight ends on the Irish Leadership Committee. Rudolph ended the season ranked thrid on the team with 33 receptions (17 resulting in first downs) for 364 yards and three touchdowns.

Junior season (2010)

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Rudolph had his promising 2010 junior season derailed by a hamstring injury that ended his season after 6 games. On September 11, he set a Notre Dame record for most receiving yards in a game by a tight end against Michigan with 164 yards on 8 receptions, with more than half of the yardage coming after he hauled in the second-longest pass play in school history with a 95-yard touchdown. Rudolph finished his final season before going pro with 28 receptions for 328 yards and three touchdowns, ending his 3-season career at Notre Dame ranked among the all-time leading tight ends in school history. His 90 career receptions were the fourth-most by a tight end in school history and his 1,032 career receiving yards are also fourth-most. His pair of 8-catch games fell 1 reception short of the school record for a tight end of 9 receptions in a game and was only the fourth Irish tight end to break the 1,000-yard career yardage plateau.

On January 4, 2011, Rudolph decided to forgo his senior season and declared for the 2011 NFL Draft.[7]

Professional career

2011 NFL Draft

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP
6 ft 6 in 259 lb 4.83 s 1.67 s 2.80 s 4.37 s 7.24 s 34.5 in 9 ft 5 in 19 reps
All values from Pro Day[8]

The Minnesota Vikings selected Rudolph with the 43rd overall pick in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Minnesota Vikings

During his rookie season, Rudolph caught 26 passes for 249 yards with a 9.6 yard average per reception and three receiving touchdowns.[9]

In 2012 Rudolph had, in many ways, a breakout year. He was targeted 93 times and tallied 53 receptions averaging 9.3 yards per reception. Rudolph finished the year with 493 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.[10] Rudolph was selected for his first pro-bowl in his career at the conclusion of the season as a replacement for Tony Gonzalez.[11] In the Pro Bowl game he caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning on the last play of the first half, and was named MVP of the game.[12]

On July 27, 2014, Rudolph and the Vikings agreed to a five-year extension that could be worth up to $40 million.[13] On September 22, 2014, it was announced that Rudolph would undergo surgery for a sports hernia, requiring 6 weeks to recover.

Career Statistics

College

Regular season statistics Receiving
Season Team GP GS Rec Rec Yards Avg Lng TDs
2008 Notre Dame 13 13 29 340 11.7 29 2
2009 Notre Dame 10 9 33 364 11.0 52 3
2010 Notre Dame 6 6 28 328 11.7 95 3
Totals 29 28 90 1032 11.5 95 8

NFL

Year Team Games Receptions Targets Receiving Yards Yards per Reception Longest Reception Receiving Touchdowns First Downs Fumbles Fumbles Lost
2011 MIN 15 26 39 249 9.6 41 3 14 0 0
2012 MIN 16 53 93 493 9.3 29 9 34 0 0
2013 MIN 8 30 46 313 10.4 31 3 12 0 0
2014 MIN 9 24 34 231 9.6 23 2 13 1 0
Total Total 48 133 212 1,286 9.7 41 17 73 1 0

[14]

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. 2007 All-Usa high school football team
  3. All American Bowl player bio
  4. Rivals.com 2008 Prospect Rankings
  5. Kyle Rudolph Named To Mackey Award Watch List
  6. Rudolph out with shoulder injury
  7. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=84239&draftyear=2011&genpos=TE
  9. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links