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.
[shortcode-inline-related expand="1" link="/971theticket/sports/detroit-lions/darren-fells-says-hockensons-td-celebrations-need-work" headline="Darren Fells wants to boost Hockenson's TD's – and his celebrations: "Those are pretty bad"" image="/media-library/image.jpg?id=63581895"]The large majority of that work came with Matthew Stafford calling the shots, but that doesn't mean he can't thrive in the offense of head coach Dan Campbell, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn and new quarterback Jared Goff. Hockenson was one of the team's standout players during OTA's and minicamp.
"I have to be honest with you," Lynn said earlier this month. "Watching the tape last year I thought he was a good tight end. But getting him here in person and just being around the young man, I think the sky is the limit for him. I think he can be a matchup nightmare."
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