Whatever went down at Tight End University — I'm sure all the details will be revealed at some point — we have what appears to be a champion. A king of all the tight ends who participated. The heavyweight amid a group of quite literal heavyweights, supervised by George Kittle, Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen.
The one and only T.J. Hockenson.
Are we all that surprised, though? He was selected at No. 8 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, which — unless you're Kyle Pitts — is about as early as you'll see a tight end go. And though he was solid in in his rookie campaign, he improved by leaps and bounds in Year 2 with 723 yards, six touchdowns and the first of what should be. many Pro Bowl selections.
The large majority of that work came with Matthew Stafford calling the shots, but that doesn't mean he can't thrive in the offensive of head coach Dan Campbell, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn and new quarterback Jared Goff. In fact, Lions senior writer Tim Twentyman wrote that the third-year tight end and TEU Heavyweight Champion is already impressing.
"T.J. did some nice things last year and I think his ceiling is even higher," Lynn said. "I know he made the Pro Bowl and all that, but he can play even better and that was the encouraging part."
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