Chiefs 2019: Future Impact Players Featuring T.J. Hockenson

Chiefs 2019: Future Impact Players

Featuring T.J. Hockenson

by Laddie Morse | February 8, 2019

Tight End T.J. Hockenson was a late entry into the draft process, waiting until the very last day to declare. However, that should not take away from what many have yet to catch onto… that he’s a stud tight end who can both block and has great hands. At 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, Hockenson is NFL ready, a plug-and-play force. Right now T.J. Hockenson is ranked as the 57th best prospect by CBS Sports and the 128th best prospect by DrafTek. By the time the draft rolls around, I won’t be surprised at all to see him go in the late first or early second round. If by some chance he’s still on the board in the late second round when the Chiefs have two picks, I’d be perfectly fine seeing them pull the trigger and jumping all over him.

I recently took the time to research T.J. Hockenson’s teammate TE Noah Fant who is currently ranked higher than he is. However, once you begin to watch Hockenson’s tape, you quickly begin to realize, he’s a standout tight end who will most certainly be a star in the NFL one day soon, as long as he is taken by the right team.

ESPN’s Todd McShay published his Mock Draft 2.0 recently and he selected CB Byron Murphy for the Chiefs and the TE from Alabama, Irv Smith, for the Los Angeles Rams. That’s when his sidekick, Mel Kiper, chimed in and touted,

“Irv Smith, I think, will go in the late first round, but I do think T.J. Hockenson, right now, from Iowa is the guy to watch.He’s the closest thing to Gronk coming out and I think people are looking for the next Gronkowski. Maybe a T.J. Hockenson from Iowa. But I do think, after all is said and done, Irv Smith Jr., either a late first round or at worst an early second rounder.”

Obviously, that was Kiper’s passive-aggressive way to say he liked a different tight end better than the one McShay put in the first round of his mock draft. Although, Kiper isn’t the only one who thinks that T.J. Hockenson is going to be a dynamo in the league one day. In an article that Chris Trapasso wrote for NFL.com called, “Iowa’s T.J. Hockenson is Destroyer of Worlds as a Blocker, Dynamic Pass-catcher,” he states,

“He’s instantly my No. 1 tight end in the 2019 class, and with a strong combine, Hockenson could ultimately be in the first-round conversation with his teammate Noah Fant. Yes, Iowa is Tight End University.”

If you’re a Kansas City Chiefs fan, you might be more concerned about how the defense will improve. However, earlier this week GM Brett Veach said,

“We were prepared for Pat [Mahomes] to have success and be a franchise quarterback, so this process of structuring ourselves for the next three, four, five years… started about a year ago.”

An important part of that “process of structuring for success” was to sign WR Sammy Watkins last offseason to make sure Mahomes had all the right support pieces around him to succeed. Adding another weapon like T.J. Hockenson could easily become a part of that plan as well. So, let’s take a look at what Hockenson excels at.

If you follow the Kansas City Chiefs much then you’re probably aware that for more than half of a decade the Chiefs backup tight end has been less than average. That would be Demetrius Harris. I thought he might be allowed to walk away last offseason when he was arrested for possession of an illegal substance (not that i agree with that law). The cap hit would have been less than half a million at the time, a paltry amount by NFL standards, but since the Chiefs had so many offseason needs to address, they kept Harris and now find themselves in a similar situation: with no good alternative if their star tight end goes down.

It’s also not just about having a suitable backup if Travis Kelce can’t go for some reason, like he did in the playoffs a year ago. Head coach Andy Reid is known to prefer running a two and three tight end sets but hasn’t been able to access that part of the playbook because the TE cookie jar has been cavernous. T.J. Hockenson could give the Chiefs that bookend playmaking tight end they’ve been wanting for for 6 years now.

The Chiefs finished second in the league, right behind Pittsburgh, in Red Zone Efficiency converting 73.08% of their opportunities. What we know from experience is that teams study what other teams do in the red zone during the offseason so if the Chiefs want to stay on top in the red zone in 2019, they’ll need another playmaker who can make that happen, like Hockenson. At some point, there are only so many weapons that opposing defenses will be able to cover, especially when you have Patrick Mahomes orchestrating.

So, in recent years, Andy Reid has typically had to use his second tight end as a blocker and then occasionally leaks him out into the flat for a pass, which keeps defenses honest. That’s really most all Demetrius Harris has been good for… for over the past half dozen years and all because his hands are suspect and caused teammates and fans alike, more pain and suffering than than Paul Rudd deserves. Hockenson would not only give Reid a strong blocker but another set of hands to force defenses to cover another receiver down field allowing both the running game, and other receivers, more room to roam.

T.J. Hockenson will likely end up out of the Kansas City Chiefs reach. He will probably be considered the best in an excellent crop of tight ends in the 2019 NFL Draft. Hockenson won the John Mackey Award for the best tight end in 2018 for good reason. That award is given each year to the college tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, academics, and community values of John Mackey — a Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end. T.J. Hockenson had 49 receptions in 2018 for 760 yards and a 15.5 yards per reception average. While I’d be shocked to see Hockenson still on the board at #61 or #63, if he was, I’d hope the Chiefs jump in whole hog.

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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