THE HOCKENSON FILE
Team: Minnesota Vikings
Position: Tight end
Height: 6-5
Weight: 248
40-Yard Dash: 4.7 seconds
College: Iowa
Draft: First round, 8th pick, 2019
Contract: Signed a 4-year $19.8 rookie million deal, 2019
WAG: Mikala Brown, engaged
Children: None reported
Record/Accomplishments:
Two-time Pro Bowl, 2020, 2022
John Mackey Award, 2018
Ozzie Newsome Award, 2018
First-team All Big Ten, 2018.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right. To many, T.J. Hockenson is the quintessential tight end, a 6-5, 248-pound beast who can clear out linebackers and work the middle of the field from sideline to sideline.
When he opted to leave Iowa after his junior season the Lions snatched him with the 8th pick in 2019 NFL Draft. By the end of the 2022 season the Lions had traded Hockenson, a 2023 fourth-round pick and a 2024 conditional fourth-round pick to the division rival Vikings for a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third round pick.
Why in the world would a team trade a former first-round pick, No.8 overall, to a division rival for second and third round picks? Is it possible that Hockenson wasn’t even the best tight end on his Iowa team. Noah Fant was the 20th pick in the 2019 draft by the Denver Broncos.
The media voted Hockenson first-team All-Big Ten and Fant second. The coaches voted Fant first-team All-Big Ten and Hockenson second. Like Hockenson, Fant also was traded, from the Broncos to the Seattle Seahawks.
Hockenson has made 246 for 2, 587 yards (10.7 yards per catch) and 18 touchdowns. Fant has made 220 catches for 2,391 (10.9 yards per catch) and 14 touchdowns.
Who’s the better tight end? Time might tell. Hockenson is in a much more friendly tight end offense in Minnesota where QB Kirk Cousins and the Vikings throw the ball a lot and wide receiver Justin Jefferson gets most the defense’s attention.
Of course, a lot depends on who the Lions use their second-round pick on in this year’s draft. Wouldn’t it be something if the Lions took a tight end.