Jaguars' Johnny Mundt Might Not Be Unheralded For Long

New Jacksonville Jaguars TE Johnny Mundt spent last year in the Twin Cities in near anonynimity, but his 19 catches, 142 yards and two trips to the end zone got him noticed enough to sign a free agent deal with the Jags, but he still comes in as a valuable player that flys under the radar.

The Jags have a few guys like that. On SI Jacksonville Jaguars Beat Writer John Shipley presented his list of unheralded guys that can outperform expectations this year in Duval. Mundt was chief among them.

"Another under the radar Jaguars player to watch heading into 2025 season. I'm gonna go with Johnny Mundt. I think that obviously, Mundt has a lot of familiarity with what the Jaguars want to do. He played in the Sean McVay offense in Los Angeles. You know, Liam Coen was there. He played in a variation of it under Sean McVay disciple Kevin O'Connell while with the Minnesota Vikings," noted Shipley.

"O'Connell genuinely called him the best No. 3 three tight end in the NFL, which, considering his role and what teams ask out of him, is a pretty good compliment. And he's not going to be a game breaker or anything like that. He's not going to be a guy defenses are really keying on to enter the week, but he is somebody who has familiarity with the offense. Grant Udinski was in Minnesota, knows what he brings here, obviously Nick Mullens as well at the backup quarterback position. So there is a real, in my opinion, reality where he is just such a smooth translation to the offense that he might be able to produce more than people think. "

The veteran writer continued, "I do anticipate the Jaguars will run a lot of 12, a lot of maybe 13 personnel this year. Use the tight ends in the running game, use the tight ends to create mismatches formationally, use the tight ends for play action and, use the tight ends in a variety of ways. I think that the Jaguars will be much more creative in their tight end usage in this offense. And Johnny Mundt is somebody who seems like he can do a little bit of everything. He can block. He can be a move guy, to an extent. I, frankly, was more impressed by him during the offseason program than I anticipated I'd be. He's a really smooth player, really good hands, had some really nice red zone reps throughout the course of the off season, even in competition reps against the defense."

"So I'm not saying I project him to catch 50 passes or 700 yards or six touchdowns or anything like that, but I do think, you know, there's a genuine path to him having more production, especially early on in the season than people might anticipate for a No. 2 or even No. 3 tight end. I don't know if it's fair to say whether him or Hunter Long [is] a No. 2 or even No. 3 tight end. [It] kind of seems like they're a little bit together and they're just the backup tight ends. There isn't one ahead of the other, but I think Johnny Mundt is definitely in a scenario where he can produce more so than anybody anticipates for him to."

Mundt's tenacity, versatility and system familiarity could be the perfect puzzle piece for Liam Coen's Jaguars. If No. 81 grows and shows, it might not be long until the radar in Duval picks up on the J-Ville tight end.

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