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The Detroit Lions haven’t had many players capable of being thought of as true stars at their positions in the league, but that’s true for tight end T.J. Hockenson.
In a short amount of time, Hockenson has transformed himself from a top 10 pick into a player that many believe is poised for stardom and ready to break out at the next level in the league as early as this coming season.
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Recently, a new ESPN piece from Jeremy Fowler took a look at ranking the top-tier players by position in the league by survey from coaches, players and executives. At tight end, Hockenson was getting all the love for Detroit. He placed seventh on the list.
Specifically, what everyone liked most about Hockenson was his ability to impact the complete game, with an NFC executive noting within the piece that Hockenson can compete as a blocker as well as have “some explosion” in the passing game.
Hockenson placed ahead of Dalton Schultz, Dawson Knox and Hunter Henry on the list. It’s another solid feather in his cap ahead of an important 2022 year.
How Hockenson Can Take Next Step Toward Greatness
This year, Hockenson needs to stay healthy most of all on the field. His rookie season was marred by injuries, and 2021 was cut short by injury as well. That hurt Hockenson from showing what he could do on in a bigger way earlier in his career. Sandwiched around that was the solid 2020 season for the youngster in which he made the Pro Bowl and looked like a good bet for greatness at the position. Another healthy year like that where Hockenson is a major contributor and he could be on his way toward proving analysis like this correct in the end.
The point? Everything is in Hockenson’s hands as it relates to his own future. With a major 2022 season, he can earn a sizable new paycheck and have his team on the right track in the process.
Hockenson’s Career Stats & Highlights
There is simply no understating the importance of Hockenson to the Lions in the future moving forward in 2022 and beyond. The team hasn’t gotten much of anything from any of the other tight ends on their roster the last few years, and while he hasn’t had the most dramatic statistical impact thus far in his career, Hockenson was easily one of the team’s top rookies in 2019, as well as a top young player in 2020 and 2021.
During his rookie season in 2019 after being a first-round pick out of Iowa, many fans were upset with Hockenson for not making a bigger impact on the game. He had only 367 yards and 2 touchdowns on the year which is not the statistical impact that many people expected from him as a top selection for the team. 2020 was a major bounce back from that, though, and Hockenson put up 723 yards and 6 touchdowns to rebound well. Last season, Hockenson put up 583 yards and 4 touchdowns to his credit and at times was the only top pass catcher for the team given injuries.
Here’s a look at some of Hockenson’s biggest career plays from 2020 season:
Clearly, Hockenson is on the right track to being thought of as one of the best players in the league at his position, and this ranking only helps prove that more when all is said and done.
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