Vikings Lose TE Josh Oliver to IR After Biceps Tear on Field Goal
Oliver tore his biceps blocking on a field-goal attempt Sunday. He'd banked 55 PPR points across 15 games last season (2025).
IR with a torn biceps ends any streaming appeal in most formats.
- Oliver tore biceps blocking on a FG attempt Sunday
- Oliver: 15 rec, 160 yds, 4 TD in 2025 (55 PPR)
- Van Noy: 7 tackles, 4 TFL, 1.5 sacks so far
- Reichard has hit 26 straight field goals
- Jeshaun Jones back on 53 after 3-game suspension
The Vikings lost tight end Josh Oliver to injured reserve after he tore his biceps blocking on a field-goal attempt Sunday. It's a brutal way to go down — not fighting for yards, but doing dirty work on special teams — and it wipes a blocking-first tight end off Minnesota's active roster indefinitely.
Oliver was never a fantasy centerpiece, but he wasn't nothing either. He put up 15 catches for 160 yards and four touchdowns across 15 games last season (2025), good for 55 PPR points and a spot at TE46 in our rankings. His form was actually trending up before the injury — last five games of 2025 he ran +2.3 fantasy points above his season average — so the timing stings for anyone who'd stashed him as a bye-week patch.
To fill the roster spot, Minnesota signed linebacker Kyle Van Noy to the active roster. Van Noy had been on the practice squad and got elevated for all three of the first three games, piling up seven tackles, four for loss, and 1.5 sacks in that stretch. Solid IDP-league value in deeper formats, but not the reason your fantasy day changes.
There was other churn, too. Receiver Jeshaun Jones finished his three-game NFL suspension and reverted to the 53-man roster, though he's unranked in our model and logged zero PPR points in his one 2025 appearance. The Vikings also cut punter Johnny Hekker, who'd filled in admirably — 46.5-yard average on eight punts, two inside the 20, a long of 63 — while holding cleanly for kicker Will Reichard, who's now drilled 26 field goals in a row.
Practice-Squad Shuffle
Minnesota added outside linebacker Kenny Dyson, Jr. to the practice squad and released running backs Jerome Ford, Jaret Patterson, and defensive lineman Jonathan Harris from it. Ford landed as a Commander in our data (RB70, 44 PPR points over 13 games in 2025) and Patterson as a Charger (RB82, 26 PPR points over six games in 2025) — deep-league names at best, and neither is a Vikings storyline anymore.
The fantasy takeaway is simple: Oliver goes to the IR wire in nearly every format. He was a marginal TE2 streamer at his ceiling, and a torn biceps ends that conversation. Drop him for a healthier body and watch how Minnesota redistributes tight-end snaps before spending a claim there.
