Before Kwesi Adofo-Mensah traded for T.J. Hockenson, he sought Kevin O’Connell’s input on the position. Tight end often goes overlooked among the skill positions. They don’t command the offense like a quarterback or break off 80-yard runs like a running back. But they can make highlight-reel plays in O’Connell’s offense if they have the proper skillset. On top of that, they are asked to run-block like an additional offensive lineman.
“The position is just changed so much,” said O’Connell, his mind whirring as he described the modern tight end. “Those guys have the ability to line up in a lot of different spaces and in your offensive formation, gain some intel on what you’re getting defensively.
“Then you start talking about working the underneath zones and possibly getting, if people are gonna play split safety, possibly getting linebackers matched up on him, where you feel like you can have an advantage,” he continued. “You have to have the guys who can handle a lot in that room, and then you, after all that, you start talking about the run game and their impact on those edges and how they can be a three-down type of player.”
O’Connell likes to quiet Kirk Cousins’ mind by getting the play call in early. He will talk him through each situation until the headsets shut off with 15 seconds left on the play clock. Then Cousins goes to the line and tries to decipher the defense, often using motion to detect whether it is in man or zone. But O’Connell needs a talented tight end to deliver on what he wants, especially when you factor in the run game. So when Irv Smith Jr. suffered a high-ankle sprain against the Arizona Cardinals on October 30, he advocated for Adofo-Mensah to trade for Hockenson.
The Vikings sent their 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third-rounder for Hockenson, a 2023 fourth-rounder, and a conditional 2024 pick (fourth or fifth round). That’s not a small price for a team that will need young talent, especially on an aging defensive corps that Ed Donatell switched to a 3-4 scheme in the offseason.
It was also the second time Adofo-Mensah had traded with the Detroit Lions, a division rival on the rise. Minnesota traded the No. 12 pick to Detroit on draft night, and the Lions took Jameson Williams, a dynamic receiver out of Alabama. If Williams turns out to be a star, and Hockenson failed to acclimate, Adofo-Mensah would have to live with the result twice a season indefinitely.
Fortunately, Hockenson came as advertised. The Vikings traded for him on November 1, and he had nine catches for 70 yards in a 20-17 road win over the Washington Commanders. That was Hockenson’s highest total until last Sunday when he had 109 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-24 win over the New York Giants.
“T.J. showed up to us as a good player,” said Cousins. “Right away in Washington, in his first game, he was making a difference for us and really hasn’t looked back. So, I think T.J. deserves credit for what he’s brought to the table, how quickly he’s learned our system.
“But I was pretty comfortable with him from Day 1, having seen what he did in his pro career in Detroit, and then right away with the confidence he gave me, knowing that he’s familiar with what we were asking him to do.”
His 13 receptions in that game were a franchise record for Minnesota tight ends. His teammates continue to marvel at how fast he learned the playbook and how productive he’s been given that he’s in a new offense and wasn’t in training camp with the Vikings.
“He doesn’t get enough credit for learning the whole playbook in two days when he got here,” said Brian O’Neill. “Now that he’s started to be able to settle in and getting reps of things that he’s been running in the games in practice.
“I mean, the first couple weeks, the first time he’s run certain plays was in the game, which is pretty hard to do. He’s just getting more comfortable.”
Hockenson has occasionally run routes for the first time in live action. However, there’s some nuance here. It’s not like the Vikings are just rolling out the ball and letting him play. They’re tweaking routes on the sidelines, adjusting to what the defense is doing. Still, every route requires timing and an understanding of leverage. Few players can jump directly into a new offense, learn its new terminology and language, and run an unfamiliar route. Hockenson has, though.
“I’ve done that a couple times,” Hockenson says with a chuckle when I asked him if he’s run routes for the first time during games. “We’re a little more innovative in our stuff, and I love that fact of it, just really kinda drawing things up based on what they show us.”
Designing a play on Microsoft Surface and executing it on the field are two separate things, though. Every pass-catcher on the roster, sans Jalen Reagor, was in camp with the Vikings. They learned the nuances of O’Connell’s offense on the TCO Performance Center fields under the searing August sun. Occasionally, Hockenson is pantomiming his teammates’ routes in-game, trying to replicate them as best he can.
“I mean, you just kinda go based on what you remember somebody else looking like – I don’t know,” he says with a short laugh. “I mean, I’ve watched a lot of film, and I’ve watched a lot of guys do it, and so, when they ask me to run a route that I haven’t really done or practiced in a few weeks, that’s one of those things where I’ll just think back to somebody that has run it, and how I would run it and put a little flavor on it. So that’s just kinda what I do.”
As time has gone on, he’s had to do less improvising. He’s been in the offense since Week 9, and he continues to pick the minds of his coaches and teammates to better understand his blocking and receiving assignments.
“Those touchdown routes were certainly repped,” said offensive coordinator Wes Phillips with a wry laugh. “There’s a little nuance to some of those routes, and I know he’s run a bunch of flat routes and stick routes throughout his career. There probably aren’t many routes he hasn’t run before, but generally, we try to practice these things. Sometimes the volume is maybe you only get kind of a walkthrough rep on certain plays.
“And that’s real across the league. Sometimes, there’s only so many live reps, full-speed reps, that you can get with these guys during the game week without wearing them down, wearing them out, and them not being ready. And sometimes that rep really is a jog-through type rep where they’ve gotta have it mentally more so than…in full-speed looks.”
Hockenson has been in the league for four years and has played with three quarterbacks. He’s had to adapt to change before. He says Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, and Cousins share some similarities, but it’s more about their demeanor than their physical traits. Like Stafford, Cousins is calm and poised throughout the game, but they’re different quarterbacks in his mind. He credits Cousins for helping him digest the playbook and acclimate to O’Connell’s Sean McVay-esque scheme.
“Learning from guys like Kirk, guys that have been in this for a long time, because this is a lot different than I’m used to in the sense of the playbook,” he says. “I mean, there’s still some things where it’s like, I’ll revert, or I’ll do something where there’s a stick route where we’d turn out here, but they’ve turned in in all my other offenses.
“So sometimes I’m like, ‘Ope, there’s no one here.’ Just little things like that that I’m really still trying to make sure that I’m doing that these guys do here.”
The Lions traded Hockenson knowing he was in the final year of his rookie contract and would be looking to get paid in the offseason. Before he was traded, The Athletic projected that Hockenson could earn a $60 million contract. Given that Justin Jefferson will likely command Learjet money, the Vikings will be doling out a lot of cash to both pass-catchers. Furthermore, Minnesota may be looking for a future WR2 because Adam Thielen will be 33 next season.
Could Hockenson become WR2 opposite Jefferson? It would be Minnesota’s best-case scenario. He’d take some pressure off Jefferson while allowing Thielen to gracefully become a veteran WR3. They also wouldn’t have to gamble with draft capital on a receiver. It also seems impossible, given Hockenson is a tight end by trade. However, the position has changed, and Hockenson is a unique talent. He’s had a great season, but imagine what he’d be capable of if he had started the year in Minnesota. He’s just getting started.
