Getty T.J. Hockenson celebrates a touchdown with his teammates against San Francisco.
The Detroit Lions will have some big decisions to make by next week’s trade deadline and one of the biggest might be whether to be buyers or sellers.
Many have advocated for the Lions adding talent to a downtrodden defense, but what if the team could deal a player away and get some players or a pick haul? That would be an excellent scenario for a rebuild as well.
Ahead of the looming deadline, Lions Wire took a look at answering the question of which player could be on the block. For Jeff Risdon, the answer was a surprise in tight end T.J. Hockenson.
As Risdon wrote, the Lions may not believe in Hockenson’s long-term value, and a team more ready to win soon could offer a compelling pick package for the player.
“Inconsistent receiving production and average (at best) blocking isn’t worth the premium contract Hockenson is likely to seek in the next year. Detroit already exercised the 5th-year option for 2023, but his long-term value for the Lions is debatable. A team more ready to win now could value Hockenson enough to make an offer GM Brad Holmes cannot refuse,” he wrote.
As Risdon would go on to say in the analysis, perhaps finding a way to add to the draft selection coffer would be a wise choice for a team that will need multiple bodies on defense come 2023.
Trading Hockenson is an interesting idea for the Lions, especially considering the unstable results he has yielded on the field. This season, Hockenson has a 179 yard, two touchdown game to his credit. He also has games with six and 18 yards receiving respectively.
If the Lions decided to trade Hockenson, there would be plenty of suitors given the importance of tight ends across the league. It’s just one of the many fascinating things Detroit could do ahead of November 1.
Hockenson’s Career Stats & Highlights
Hockenson has indeed been inconsistent during his time with the Lions, something many folks notice when pondering his future with the franchise.
The team hasn’t gotten much from other tight ends on their roster the last few years, and while he hasn’t had the most dramatic statistical impact thus far, Hockenson was easily one of the team’s top rookies in 2019, as well as a top young player in 2020 and 2021 and a player capable of impacting both the run and the pass.
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. He had only 367 yards and 2 touchdowns on the year. 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 other injuries on the roster.
Here’s a look at some of Hockenson’s biggest career plays from 2020 season:
This year, Hockenson has been far more volatile. He has only 315 yards and three touchdowns through the first seven weeks of the season. It’s long been figured Hockenson could or should do more in the offense, but routinely, he’s been hard to unlock.
Lions’ Next Moves With Hockenson
The Lions, under former general manager Bob Quinn, had a habit of knocking out extensions early just before or during training camp. Their new front office hasn’t done a lot of that.
It’s seemed Holmes has wanted to see what players offer in a full season before doing an extension. Predictions were made that hold Hockenson could see an extension prior to the year or maybe during the year, and this adds another level to that idea.
This offseason, the Lions did use their fifth-year option with Hockenson, ensuring he stuck around for the 2022 season. Many, including Heavy NFL insider Matt Lombardo, have maintained that a deal could happen during the season or soon. Time could be ticking on that, however.
At this point, most still see Hockenson as a vital piece for the Detroit future, but some aren’t sure whether or not that’s the truth. If Hockenson is indeed available, it would be a fascinating subplot to deadline day.