Film Review: What the New York Giants Are Getting in TE Kyle Rudolph

Nick Falato takes an in-depth look at new Giants tight end Kyle Rudolph's film.

The Giants added veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph to their ranks on Thursday. The former Minnesota Viking reportedly signed a two-year, up to $16 million contract. 

The signing may spark questions about Evan Engram's presence on the 2021 roster, but the two tight ends are wildly different. Rudolph was a second-round pick out of Notre Dame in 2011. He has 4,642 career receiving yards on 469 catches with 50 touchdowns. Let’s get right into his film:

Run Blocking

Jason Garrett traditionally had a Jason Witten type of tight end, which is more of the “Y” mold of tight ends. These “Y” tight ends are typically more inline and can offer more as a blocker - Rudolph has that in his wheelhouse.

Kyle Rudolph is No. 82

(right side)

The Vikings ran predominantly zone type of rushing concepts, but the block executed in this clip is more akin to a power/gap seal to the play side. 

The defender attacks his inside shoulder, and Rudolph just holds him in place and allows Dalvin Cook to run off his backside.

(more inline tight end, right side)

This is a counter trey run call - the base run call Jason Garrett ran in 2020. It’s a common power/gap play with a bit of a misdirection twist to it. 

Rudolph blocks down and steers his defender away from his gap to allow a big hole. This is what the Giants will be asking him to do.

(left side)

Rudolph gets to the inside shoulder of his assignment here and doesn’t allow him to restrict the gap, which results in a touchdown. 

He displays strength, adjustment ability, and a very good understanding of positioning in this play.

(more inline tight end, left side)

Rudolph shows good torque and core strength to pin the Colts’ defender inside. He’s not in the best position, but he uses his outside arm well not to allow the Colts’ defender to disengage and make a play. 

Rudolph is a solid overall blocker inline. There are times where he will enable his pad-level to climb a bit, and his momentum is too far forward, resulting in him being pulled to the deck, but overall he’s an upgrade over any current New York Giants’ tight end. 

Kaden Smith is developing, and Toilolo should be on the roster bubble. As for Engram, he’s more an athlete who can make people miss in space. He tries hard with blocking, but it’s marginal at best.

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(left side)

A big part of NFL protections is these delayed releases where the tight end or running back chips can assist an offensive linemen before releasing into their route. 

Rudolph sells like he’s going into his route and quickly helps his tackle and flattens the defender to the deck. A good sell job and aggressive hit from a tight end who plays with good functional strength at 6’6", 265 pounds.

(right side of the screen)

This is a nice play by Rudolph, who was in an advantageous position blocking down the line of scrimmage, but it’s against J.J. Watt. 

I don’t want to be disingenuous here because there were also reps where Watt owned the point of attack against Rudolph--as he should--but this is still a play where he showed good movement skills and enough strength to hold up.

(right side of the screen)

He may be big, but his feet are pretty quick as well. Rudolph mirrors pass rushers well up the arc and blocks solidly as well. He is patient, isn’t leaning, and flows up the arc to mirror and match the pass rusher’s movement. 

Most of his film shows good initial ability as a pass blocker, but as a second or two goes by, the EDGE rushers typically find ways away from the block with either a push-pull or some other sort of pass-rushing move. 

The initial ability is enough to allow the quarterback to release the football. Overall, Rudolph is a solid pass protector as well, and he can hold up just long enough to allow most quarterbacks to make a play.

Receiving

Kyle Rudolph is a big target with a huge catch radius and very strong hands. He’s only dropped one pass in the last three years.

He secures this Hail Mary attempt by jumping over defenders and high pointing the ball. Rudolph combines size, concentration, a sure-handed nature, and solid route running ability to maximize his skill-set and present a viable target for his quarterbacks. 

Daniel Jones is going to love the isolation one on one passes to Rudolph.

(right side of the screen)

Rudolph shows good spatial awareness up the seam and shows some flexibility as he turns around the linebacker and breaks inside just before the safety. This is a very smart route and a good strong-handed catch from Rudolph.

(right side of the line)

Rudolph has the luxury of breaking into the open and kind of getting lost in the traffic here. You can gauge his athletic ability with the football in his hands. 

He’s not a player that will make a lot of people miss, but he has long strides, is physical, and will present a good target in the short to intermediate parts of the field for Daniel Jones.

The 2020 Giants struggled to succeed with Jason Garrett’s spacing concepts that he ran all too often, to a fault. 

Rudolph is much more suited to have success with these routes than Evan Engram. Rudolph is a bigger target, has a wider catch radius, much better hands, and he’s less prone to make mistakes. He’s also a better red zone threat than Engram

(left side)

He makes these one-handed catches look easy, and it’s a testament to his concentration and tracking ability. The sure-handed nature of Rudolph is going to be a welcomed sight by Giants’ fans. 

This is a simple stick & nod route, and Rudolph runs it very well; he sells the outside break, opening up the middle of the field to make the easy touchdown catch.

(right side of the line)

Here’s another one-handed catch where he works through trash on the back-end and flows to the open spot horizontally. 

He gives Kirk Cousins a big target and adjusts his path away from the coverage after selling the block off a play-action pass.

(left side)

The “push-off play” in the Vikings' wild card victory over the Saints. It was a somewhat subtle push-off by Rudolph here, but he gets up the fade and fights through the defender’s contact before high pointing the ball and securing the Vikings' playoff win. 

I love to see those strong hands secure this pass in a high-leverage situation.

(left side)

Rudolph is in a two-point stance here, and he runs a quick little hitch route with a nice little subtle push-off to create space between himself and the defender. 

It ends up being a quick pitch and catch in tight coverage where Rudolph doesn’t lose the physicality battle, rarely does he ever.

Final Thoughts

I would like to see the full contract details because up to $8 million a season seems like a lot, given the Giants state, but the addition should help this team in every facet of tight end play. 

Rudolph’s ability to block in the run is slightly above average in the league, whereas Engram is below average. 

Rudolph is a better and stronger pass protector as well. He’s also much more reliable as a receiver with much better hands. Engram is more explosive, a better athlete, and is more dynamic in space.

 Rudolph is a good fit for what Jason Garrett wants to do in his offense. I just hope that his offense still evolves and we see a more modern football style than we saw in 2020. 

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