By Jim Rueda

The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.

If you’re looking for a big tight end who can run clean routes, be a solid red-zone target and go up and catch the football, rookie Bucky Hodges would seem to fit the bill.

He has the size (6-foot-6, 257 pounds), speed and agility to be a productive tight end. When his career was over at Virginia Tech, Hodges had set school records for receptions by a tight end (133), receiving yards (1,747) and touchdowns (20).

The thing is, the Minnesota Vikings expect their tight ends to do more — a lot more — than simply catch the football. Most notably they need to be able to handle pass protection, make a block to free a receiver and be able to open up a hole for a running back.

Like most sixth-round draft choices, Hodges is a bubble player for the Vikings. How quickly he can pick up the non-receiving aspects of the tight-end position will likely determine if he makes the team or not.

“He’s gotten better,” Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. “I think he still needs to improve. There are a lot of areas.

“We’re asking them to do some things at the tight end position that he didn’t do much of in college. He was extended; he was standing in a two-point away.”

Hodges isn’t about to say he’s overwhelmed by all his new responsibilities, but he admits it’s a challenge.

“It’s like learning a whole new position,” he said. “My hand is in the dirt now; it really wasn’t in the dirt at Virginia Tech.

“There’s a lot more blocking in line. I really didn’t do that in college. I did strictly receiver stuff in college.”

Kyle Rudolph has the starting tight end job locked up, especially after a stellar 2016 season when he had career-highs in both receptions (83) and receiving yards (840) and caught seven touchdowns.

After Rudolph the depth chart is wide open. David Morgan is back for his second season but was used almost exclusively as a blocker in 2016.

The other candidates are Hodges, free agent signee Nick Truesdell and undrafted free agents Kyle Carter and Josiah Price.

“This is a transition that I’m ready for,” Hodges said. “My footwork, my hand placement, pad level — I’m just working on all those little things, and I’ve got a great group of guys around me helping me out.”

The coaching staff doesn’t have to make any roster decisions until Sept. 2 when the team has to be down to 53 players. Shurmur expects the tight end situation to be a little less murky by then.

“Bucky is a tough guy, he showed up well in the red zone, in terms for having a feel for getting open, which is good,” Shurmur said. “He’ll stick it in there, now it’s just a matter of time to have that courage to do it with the fundamentals of the footwork or the fit and then the finish.

“I think he’s working on that and making steady progress.”