New Vikings offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave has a fan in his locker room in tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.
Shiancoe told the Star-Tribune that he started studying film of the Falcons as soon as he learned that Musgrave (who was the quarterbacks coach in Atlanta the last five years) had been hired. Shiancoe liked what he saw.
“The tight end is just very involved in their offense,” Shiancoe said. “I’m very excited. . . . You can’t ask for a better situation than that.”
If Musgrave plans to run a similar offense to the system the Falcons utilized, it’s easy to see why Shiancoe would be excited: Tony Gonzalez got plenty of balls thrown his way in Atlanta.
Shiancoe pointed out, however, that a lockout would make it a lot tougher for players to learn a new offense.
“The offseason is very important, getting the fundamentals back down,” Shiancoe said. “Especially guys with new coaches, or teams with new coaches and new systems or younger guys. . . . Meetings, film, on-the-field work, weight room. Even that camaraderie. Getting to know how the coaches work. Just everything.”
So Shiancoe’s enthusiasm for his new offense may have to withstand a lengthy work stoppage.