Notre Dame football: 10 best players to play in the NFL this past decade
By Matt Clark
After starting for three years at the tight end position for Notre Dame football with collegiate career totals of 90 receptions for 1032 yards and eight touchdowns for the Irish, Kyle Rudolph entered the 2012 NFL Draft as one of the top tight ends.
The Minnesota Vikings would select Rudolph in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft with the 43rd overall selection. Rudolph has remained a valuable member of the Vikings roster since being drafted by the team and has been a go-to red-zone target for all ten of the starting quarterbacks that have played under center for Minnesota during his eight-year career.
In 2012, just Rudolph’s second season in the league, the tight end would receive his first Pro Bowl selection after catching 53 passes for 493 yards and nine touchdowns on the season. The 2012 season was very much a breakout campaign for Rudolph.
In 2017, he would receive his second selection to a Pro Bowl after amassing 57 receptions for 532 yards and eight touchdowns. However, neither of the two years that Rudolph was selected as a Pro Bowler was statistically his best season.
His best statistical season came in 2016 when he caught 83 passes for 840 yards and seven touchdowns. Rudolph has remained a model of consistency, starting at least 15 games in all but two of the nine years of his career.
For his career, Rudolph has 425 receptions for 4,154 receiving yards and 47 touchdowns. That averages out to 47 receptions for 462 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns per season. Those numbers are among the best for all tight ends during his career.