What It Means:

"Route running and catching balls, to many, is all that matters," Rudolph reasoned. "But it’s also (about) being one of the best blockers, one of the best pass protectors." Rudolph went on to say he believes fantasy football hurts his reputation. "The world revolves around fantasy football ... But I know that when I come to work every Monday, and I (watch) the film, I may have only caught two balls, but if I did my job in the run game and pass protection, (Vikings coach Mike Zimmer) is going to be happy."

Somewhere in there, Rudolph makes a good point about a player's fantasy football stats often times overshadowing their real football contributions. Luckily, we have our Net Expected Points (NEP) metric, which helps a little in that regard. It doesn't account for any blocking stats, but it tells us how valuable Rudolph was as a receiver. Among tight ends with at least 40 targets, he ranked 25th in Reception NEP per target.