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Former Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph signed recently with the Giants after being cut following a decade in Minnesota.
On Monday, he made an appearances on Sirius XM NFL and gave some insights into what made the Giants the right fit. Per a transcription from NJ.com, it sounds like a conversation with Joe Judge was a big piece of it.
"One of the lines he said that really resonated with me was: 'Overachievers aren't OK with mediocrity. I want to surround myself with a bunch of overachievers,'" Rudolph said. "I've always looked at myself as someone that tries to work harder than the next guy and be an overachiever and that really resonated with me and that's something I want to be a part of. He said, 'Listen, we're all about football and we're going to work hard, we're going to do things the hard way, we're going to build things the right way, so it lasts.' And that's something I want to be a part of."
Now: I'm not really inclined to draw too many conclusions from that, but SOME of you might think it was a comment on the situation he left with the Vikings as much as it is a spin forward to his new situation.
Rudolph played in 140 career games in Minnesota, with the Vikings going 74-65-1 — including 25-22-1 in the last three with Kirk Cousins at QB as Rudolph's numbers declined.
The Giants, by contrast, are just 18-46 in their last four seasons and have only made the playoffs once since winning the Super Bowl in 2011. Rudolph is almost certainly hoping for a renaissance of sorts after seeing his catches dip from 64 to 39 to 28 in the last three years.
"I always try to be extremely reliable in the pass game. When my number is called, when the quarterback has the trust in me to throw me the football, I'm going to execute and make sure I catch the ball," Rudolph said. "Whether that be moving the chains on third down, a big play on first down or scoring touchdowns in the red zone. That's what I prided myself on the last 10 years to be able to bring to an offense."
The Giants could use the help. They ranked No. 31 in both yards and points in 2020. New York had just 12 passing TDs all year and just one to a tight end. But maybe young QB Daniel Jones will form the type of connection with Rudolph that various Vikings QBs had with him from 2015-19 when he averaged 58 catches and six touchdowns a season.
