With Just Days to Prepare, T.J. Hockenson Shines in Full-Time Role in Vikings Debut
So much for easing T.J. Hockenson into action.
On Tuesday, the Vikings sent two draft picks to the Lions to acquire Hockenson. Five long, mentally grueling days later, there he was, leading his new team in receptions in a comeback victory over the Washington Commanders. Hockenson played nearly every down and was a focal point of the Vikings' offense on Sunday, catching all nine targets thrown his way for 70 yards — easily the most by a Minnesota tight end this season.
A lot of work went into getting the Vikings' newest player ready for this game. With less than a week to get up to speed in a brand new offense, it took major dedication from Hockenson and several others, starting as soon as he landed in Minnesota on Tuesday night. He spent a ton of time with Vikings tight ends coach Brian Angelichio and third-string quarterback David Blough, a former teammate of his in Detroit, during the week. With those two at the forefront, Hockenson took a crash course in Kevin O'Connell's offense and aced his first test on Sunday.
"Can't say enough about what T.J. Hockenson did this week to learn this system," Kirk Cousins said. "Took me about four months to learn it; he did it like four days, so he's kind of making me look bad. Not one time in the huddle did I feel like he was looking at me like he didn't know what to do. Just very much on top of it. Gave me a sense of ease as a result."
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It was difficult to know what to expect from Hockenson in his first game with the Vikings. O'Connell's offense is a complex one — that's something we've heard from Cousins, Adam Thielen, and other Vikings players over the course of this year. There was a lot to learn. Given the time constraints, was it realistic for Hockenson to have a major role in this game?
As it turns out, it was.
Hockenson took the field as the lone tight end in 11 personnel on the first play of the game, and he was basically a full-time player all afternoon. He caught a 19-yard pass over the middle on the Vikings' first third down opportunity, showing off the size and athleticism that made him a top-ten pick in 2019 and a Pro Bowler in 2020.
Hockenson added an 18-yard catch in the second quarter and a 13-yarder in the third. Five of his receptions went for first downs, three of which came on third down. That included a nine-yard gain in the red zone on a third and 4 late in the fourth quarter, which helped set up the Vikings' game-winning field goal.
Outside of one play where Hockenson didn't pick up a blitzing defensive back, leading to a sack, there was nothing that indicated he was new to the team. He looked comfortable out there, as if he had been playing with the Vikings all season long.
"He deserves all the credit, both him and Brian Angelichio, the tight ends coach, they spent a lot of time together over the last five days, getting him ready to play," O'Connell said. "We didn't really dumb anything down, we didn't have a separate offense when T.J. was in there. I'm amazed at how prepared he was to play.
"I think it's a testament to his work ethic, his ability to retain a lot of information, and then obviously the coaching by Brian to get with him and kind of be at his side five, six days in a row in hopes of having him ready to go. You could feel his presence on the field. It's a big-time addition that Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah) and his staff went and got us."
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Hockenson went the extra mile to get ready for this game. From Wednesday through Friday, he got to the Vikings' facility early and stayed late, doing everything he could to prepare himself to play.
It paid off. Hockenson's nine catches were the most by a Vikings tight end since 2018. He became the first Vikings tight end to reach 70 receiving yards since Tyler Conklin did it in Week 6 of last season, over a year ago. Imagine how productive he can be if the Vikings get the TE screen game figured out, considering three of Hockenson's catches actually went for a combined negative 8 yards.
"I tried my hardest this week to learn everything, I really did," he said. "That’s kind of the standard I put on myself, to be a guy that if they needed me, I would at least know what I was doing. That was a big emphasis for me this week, to be ready when my number was called, and I was able to do that."
For Hockenson, that meant doing whatever he could to learn the Vikings' offense. From Tuesday night to Sunday morning, he worked more or less from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep. He recorded play calls and other things on his phone and listened to them over and over again so that he would be ready to go when it mattered.
"When it came out of Kirk's mouth, I wanted it to be second nature so I didn't really have to think about it," Hockenson said. "Just going to the line so I could actually read the defense and understand things that were going on as well. It really wasn't too bad today. The last four days have been a grind, but it's been awesome. I definitely wouldn't change it."
"Once I got into the huddle, after the first play, I was very comfortable," he said.
Hockenson gave a lot of credit to Blough, his teammate for nearly three years in Detroit. They've been in several different offenses together, so Blough was able to help him learn this one. Having the perspective of a quarterback was huge, Hockenson said. Blough was able to relate various plays and concepts to things they've done together in previous Lions offenses.
"Him just having the quarterback knowledge and understanding reads and where they're looking and what we're doing helped me a ton this week," Hockenson said. "I met with him last night to go over everything and he was like 'You're ready, dude. You got this.' That meant a lot to me, to have the confidence to come out here and do it."
It wasn't just Blough, and it wasn't just Angelichio. The Vikings' entire coaching staff and team helped Hockenson acclimate to his new surroundings. Thielen called it "unbelievably impressive" for him to learn the playbook that quickly. Justin Jefferson has a message for him before the game: "If you ever have a brain fart, just let me know and I’ll tell you (what to do)."
Hockenson's ability to beat man coverage in the short and intermediate areas of the field was huge for the Vikings in Sunday's game, especially on third down. As he continues to familiarize himself with this offense even further, his presence will make this offense that much more dangerous than it already has been this season. The combination of Jefferson (115 yards and a touchdown), Hockenson, and Thielen (67 yards) in the passing game is awfully tough to defend, and that's without mentioning Dalvin Cook and K.J. Osborn.
After tasting victory for just the second time all season, Hockenson is just happy to be here.
"This has just been awesome," he said. "My last four days have been incredible and the guys in this locker room are so great. They helped me throughout the process, with learning the offense and with figuring everything out. It’s just such a great group of guys to be around.
"This locker room, these coaches, these people, the community, just hearing the fans out there and how they travel. I mean, they’re already yelling my name. It’s pretty sweet and I'm really happy to be part of this organization and part of this team. There’s nowhere else I'd rather be."
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