Matthew Coller: Vikings are all in with trade for TJ Hockenson
The Minnesota Vikings’ win over the Arizona Cardinals put them in rare air in franchise history. With one more win against Washington this week they can get to 7-1, which was the same opening to a season as the 1998, 2000 and 2009 clubs that reached the NFC Championship game. By acquiring Detroit Lions tight end TJ Hockenson they are taking a big swing at a special season.
Oh, and 7-1 was also the Los Angeles Rams’ record in their first eight games and they notably acquired pass rusher Von Miller. So much for not going “full Rams.”
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Vikings are sending a 2023 second-round pick and 2024 third-round pick for Hockenson and a 2023 fourth and conditional 2024 fourth-round pick.
Hockenson has elevated himself into on of the best tight ends in the NFL over the past three seasons, bringing in 67 catches in 2020, 61 last year and 26 already this season. Where 2022 has been different for the former Iowa standout is as a downfield threat. He’s averaging 15.2 yards per catch and seven of his grabs have come with the ball traveling more than 10 yards through the air.
While he might not be the same type of deep receiver like Houston’s Brandin Cooks, who was also reportedly on the trade block, Hockenson gives the Vikings an additional weapon in a year where they have had difficulty establishing anyone other than Justin Jefferson consistently.
Irv Smith Jr. has averaged just 7.6 yards per catch this year and suffered a high ankle sprain against the Cardinals that will, according to Adam Schefter, keep him out for 8-10 weeks.. Adam Thielen has the lowest yards per catch rate of his career and KJ Osborn hasn’t emerged as the WR3 threat they expected coming out of camp with just 21 catches at 8.8 YPC.
The ex-Hawkeye gives the Vikings a little more beef up front, weighing in at 244 pounds. That’s closer in size to Rams tight end Tyler Higbee, who was a standout for Los Angeles in their run to the Super Bowl last season. The Vikings also showed versus the Cardinals the impact of their run game, which currently ranks 10th in Expected Points Added and could be helped by a bigger blocking tight end.
This trade isn’t just significant because of what it means to the present offense. It matters in two other ways: The message to the team and the long-term prospects of Hockenson as a Viking.
Kevin O’Connell has created a veteran-led atmosphere of players who are looking to win late in their careers i.e. Patrick Peterson, Za’Darius Smith, Adam Thielen, Harrison Smith etc. They aren’t a developing team or a rebuilding squad hoping to show positive signs each Sunday. The goal following a 6-1 start is to reach the Super Bowl and the trade for Hockenson is a swing-for-the-fences type play. It sacrifices future draft capital to win in a window that they may not have expected considering how poorly the division and conference have played this year. It took malleability from GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to toss aside the idea of a “competitive rebuild” and rather strike while the opportunity has presented itself.
If players were already buying into what Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell were selling, they will have that feeling solidified by a trade for a top 10 player at his position.
The Vikings can also keep Hockenson long term. His fifth-year option was picked up by the Lions, taking him through the 2023 season and then the Vikings can sign him to a long-term contract if they please. It’s more of a “now” move than later but they now have an answer at a key offensive position when it appeared that things at tight end were unclear with Smith Jr. not taking a big step forward this season.
The impact for the fan base shouldn’t be ignored either. It has been several years since the Vikings looked like a team that had a direction and fans became frustrated to the point that US Bank Stadium wasn’t hitting its usual noise levels. Now they have a direction: Win now.
Related: Former Vikings defensive coordinator Adam Zimmer dead at 38
Related: Why the refs flagged Garrett Bradbury for unsportsmanlike conduct
