Why T.J. Hockenson Should Be Very Pleased
Recent seasons have been tough on T.J. Hockenson.
The star tight end was fantastic piece of the puzzle in 2022 and 2023. He has been less potent in 2024 and 2025, partly due to injury and partly due to the context of the offense around him. Does the well-paid veteran experience a boost going into 2026? Now in a contract year, Hockenson should be highly motivated to arrive at major production.
TE1 T.J. Hockenson and the Chance to Shine in 2026
Standing at 6’5″ and weighing roughly 250 pounds, Mr. Hockenson boasts a nice build to play the position. He ran a 4.7 forty, a strong time without being earth shattering. More broadly, Hockenson is a very good athlete, boasting an impressive 9.19 RAS Score.
Hockenson’s role in Minnesota has often involved being a safety valve rather than a terror who burns down the seam. Hockenson’s role in Detroit had been more modest if the only criteria is targets/catches. Where the Lions squeezed more value out of him was within the explosiveness of his catches. At no point has he been able to surpass his 11.5 yards-per-reception season average as a rookie with the Lions in 2019.
Prior to getting traded in 2022, Hockenson had been averaging an explosive 15.2 yards per catch in Detroit, but his final average for that season finished off at 10.6. The reason why is due to just an 8.7 yards-per-catch average after becoming a Viking.
Useful context to consider, especially given that Hockenson isn’t a touchdown assassin. His highest touchdown total in his career is 6, a number he hit in 2020 and 2022.
Add those two realities together — less-than-explosive catches alongside humble touchdown totals — and it’s easy to arrive at some skepticism for Hockenson. What needs to be remembered, though, is that he’s still in his late-20s (he’ll turn 29 in July). Is there move value to squeeze out of him?
Kyler Murray, quite possibly, will be central in helping Hockenson’s to play better in the upcoming season. After all, Murray had a very nice rapport with his tight end in Arizona: Trey McBride.
The 2025 season involved McBride offering sizzling stats. His totals come in at 126 catches, 1,239 yards, and 11 touchdowns. Essentially, elite production even if the 9.8 yards-per-catch average is somewhat modest.
Now, the central caveat is that the great majority of that production didn’t occur with Murray throwing the ball given that the passer played in only five games. It’s an obvious critique, but note that McBride did very well in 2024, a season featuring Murray playing all seventeen games.
McBride’s 2024 season involved turning 147 targets into 111 catches, 1,146 yards, and 2 touchdowns. The scoring total is much more modest, but McBride’s production was still elite. The passer who got McBride to those totals is now considered the favorite to start for the Minnesota Vikings.
T.J. Hockenson is staring down a golden opportunity to get his stats back up to sizzling.
Operating from within Minnesota’s offense creates an obvious issue: needing to share targets with Justin Jefferson. So, too, does Jordan Addison demand a good amount of attention. Passing the ball to those two necessarily means that the ball can’t be passed to Hockenson.
Obvious? Yes, indisputably. Worth considering? Yes, indisputably.
What’s maybe a touch less obvious, though no less important, is that we’re considering a two-way street. Jefferson and Addison soak up a ton of targets, but they also soak up a lot of attention from the other team’s secondary. Seeing the Vikings come up on the schedule means that rival DCs start thinking about how to shutdown those two top WRs.
As a result, T.J. Hockenson is going to find more green grass to work into since he’s (at best) the third option in the passing game.
After the contract adjustment in March, Hockenson has a $15.6 million cap charge for the 2026 season (OTC). He’ll leave behind a $7.11 million dead money hit in 2027 if he signs elsewhere.
