With a good QB, limited weapons, and an offense set on featuring the tight end, former Iowa football player TJ Hockenson landed in a great spot to win OROY.
Expectations are high whenever you are a first-round draft pick, but when you use a top-10 pick on someone, you expect the impact to be immediate and grand. Being the earliest tight end drafted since 2006 even further heightens those expectations. Welcome to former Iowa football player TJ Hockenons’ life now.
As the 8th overall draft pick by the Detroit Lions, Hockenson needs to step in and make a statement, which is no easy feat, but if he is able to play the way we saw him play for the Iowa football program last season, he could easily run away with the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
It’s less common that teams drafted in the top ten have a bonafide starter at quarterback, but that is exactly what the Lions have in Matt Stafford who has started 141 games in his 10-year career, all with Detroit. Although Stafford hasn’t relied heavily on tight ends in the past, that is likely to change this year.
The Lions receiving group is Kenny Golladay, Danny Amendola, and Marvin Jones.
Those names are recognizable but they certainly don’t strike fear in opponents. Plus, with new offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell in town, the Lions look to feature a more balanced approach on offense. Bevell’s last pit stop in the coaching world was in Seattle, and if you an Iowa football fan you’ll like what type of offense he ran there.
Those Seahawks were predicated on running the ball early and often and looking at tight ends in the red zone. In Bevell’s last two seasons, Jimmy Graham finished second in targets on the team and made two Pro Bowls all while being arguably the worst blocking tight end in all of football. Putting Graham on the field in a running situation is essentially leaving an extra defender free.
With Hockenson though in Bevell’s offense, defenses won’t know what is coming. Hockenson can block like an offensive lineman and catch that ball like a premier tight end. Defenses won’t be able to get a read on what is happening, which is great news for Detroit’s offense as a whole and for TJ Hockenson.
The biggest issue Hockenson will have, much like Fant, is competing against the likes of Kylar Murray and some of the running backs who landed in good spots where they are likely going to start.
If Hockenson can haul in 60 catches for 700 yards and 8-10 touchdowns though, he should be considered one of the top candidates for Offensive Rookie of the Year.