National Football League

Shiancoe a sure-handed target for Favre, Vikings

Published Jan. 8, 2010 3:19 a.m. ET

foxsports

When the Vikings are done for the day, Visanthe Shiancoe takes a seat on the artificial grass beneath the dim roof of their practice facility.

His helmet still strapped on, Shiancoe faces away from assistant coach Jimmie Johnson, who starts hurling football after football at the team's top tight end. Shiancoe turns back over his shoulder, contorts his body and uses his peripheral vision to make catches at the most awkward of angles.

The unorthodox drill continues until the fieldhouse is all but empty.

This is the kind of extra work Shiancoe has put in to finally flourish as a reliable target for Minnesota. After signing a five-year contract as a free agent in 2007, Shiancoe was a borderline flop best remembered that season for his drops.

Once he grasped the offense, a much different scheme than what he learned over four years with the New York Giants, Shiancoe began to settle in. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound product of small-school Morgan State has given the Vikings the speed, strength and sure hands they wanted when they got this late-blooming hard worker from the Baltimore area.

Shiancoe this season caught a career-high 56 passes for 566 yards, a slight dip from 2008, and set the Vikings single-season record for tight ends with 11 touchdowns. That matched the seventh most in NFL history for that category, and he also tied for fourth in the league this year for scoring receptions at any position.

Think he was doing all those tricky, tedious drills for nothing?

``It's kind of like going out and hitting a bucket of balls or sharpening your knife on a stone,'' coach Brad Childress said. ``That's all hand-eye stuff, and it's real-time stuff.''

Brett Favre's heralded arrival has helped Shiancoe, too. After watching his tight ends thrive in the same West Coast-style system in Green Bay, Favre has seen Shiancoe become one of his favorites.

``I just envisioned a big year for the offense. I knew I could be part of it, so I'm pulling my weight. Everyone else is pulling their weight too,'' Shiancoe said. ``Of course Favre is doing his part. That's why we brought him here, for results like this. When it comes to my season, I felt like I left a lot of plays out there. I'm still not satisfied, and I think it's good that I'm not satisfied.''

After winning their second straight NFC North title, finishing 12-4 and earning the first-round bye that comes with the conference's No. 2 seed, the Vikings had the week off to rest.

It was an opportunity to reflect on the impact Favre made on Minnesota's offense in his first season wearing purple. Shiancoe is one of the most outspoken players in the locker room, and he has raved about the experience of working with the NFL's all-time leading passer.

``You run a 10-yard out, and he's not going to throw you into a corner or get you blown up, get your ribs cracked up or something,'' Shiancoe said. ``I didn't think it was going to be this comfortable - laid back guy that likes to joke around. It just makes it a good environment to play football. You trust him. He works hard. You learn from him.''

This season, the Vikings were only the second team in league history with six players who had at least 40 receptions. Favre's ability to spread the ball is a big factor in the success of the tight end. He called that position ``probably the most important part of the package'' in the West Coast offense.

Some notable examples of their connection:

- Early in the Oct. 18 game against Baltimore, Favre zipped a 19-yard TD pass to Shiancoe, who had to hastily shift his body away from a defender and extend both of his arms to haul in the ball over his shoulder.

- Before one play against Seattle on Nov. 22, Favre saw Shiancoe covered to the outside, where he was supposed to take his route. Favre changed the plan at the line, instead throwing straight up the middle to Shiancoe, who quickly looked back for the ball. ``He'd no more of thought to do that in the first year than a man on the moon,'' Childress said.

- In the regular season finale against the Giants, Shiancoe lined up wide and ran a route like a receiver to set up a touchdown with a 27-yard, back-shoulder reception.

``You don't see too many tight ends line up outside and run fade routes, or if they do, the ball's not thrown to them. I would think he's a mismatch for most guys unless you put a corner on him,'' Favre said, claiming that as the first time he tried that with a tight end.

``There are some things you just can't coach.''