T.J. Hockenson returns to Detroit as a 'friendly target' on important downs for the Vikings

Perhaps it's fitting that it took just three snaps after a mere three practices for T.J. Hockenson to become a guy Kirk Cousins can trust when things get hairy and the sideline sticks are screaming "3."

"It was weird," said Hockenson, remembering that first third down 90 seconds into the Washington game on Nov. 6, five days after the Vikings acquired him and two draft picks from NFC North rival Detroit for a 2023 second-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick.

"I remember we got the look we wanted, and I saw the ball in the air. At that point, I'm still not used to Kirk's ball, you know? So I'm like, 'Oh, man. It's going to be too high.'"

Instinctively, the 6-5, 248-pound tight end jumped.

"Then, all of a sudden, I'm up here and the ball is down here," said Hockenson, pointing to his thighs. "I was used to Jared [Goff's] ball. His would stay on the same plane."

Somewhere on the sideline, third-string quarterback David Blough was shaking his head and laughing. Former teammates in Detroit, Blough and Hockenson had spent the week cramming the Vikings' offense into Hockenson's head using Lions terms he could relate to. Blough also reminded him that even though Cousins has the arm strength to make every throw necessary, he doesn't always rifle the ball, a la Goff.

"Kirk has a gift of being able to layer the ball over the defenders," Blough said. "Kirk gave T.J. a nice, easy one to catch there. T.J. could have run through it, but he jumps. I had to give him a hard time for that one."

Meanwhile, Cousins gave the long-armed fella kudos for the 19-yard gain and all that has followed, especially on third and fourth downs the past five games. The Vikings have gone 4-1 against teams with a combined record of 38-22-1 and tote a 10-2 record into Detroit with a chance to clinch their first division title since 2017 with a win over a Lions team that's also 4-1 since the trade.

Cousins said it's now "funny to watch the tape" of the first game between the teams in Week 3 and see Hockenson on the opponent.

"He's done a great job for us," the quarterback said. "We've got to keep using his skill set and he'll continue to make a difference."

Playing against the Lions, who drafted him eighth overall out of Iowa in 2019, at Ford Field, not far from where he owns a house that's sitting empty, is going to be beyond strange for Hockenson.

"My career right now is totally, completely different compared to last year when the Vikings came in and we were [0-10-1]," Hockenson said of Detroit's 29-27 walk-off upset victory. "I give thanks to Detroit. Truly no hard feelings because this is a blessing I never imagined in my wildest dreams.

"I didn't think I'd be traded, and, frankly, I never thought it would be in the division because I didn't think they'd want to see me twice a year."

Lions coach Dan Campbell this week called Hockenson, a 2020 Pro Bowler, "a steady player" for the Vikings. He has 30 catches on 40 targets for 225 yards (7.5 yards per catch) and one touchdown for the Vikings after 26 catches on 43 targets for 395 yards (15.7) – including a franchise single-game record 179 for a tight end — and three touchdowns in seven games for Detroit.

"We knew we were going to lose some production, he was a good player," Campbell said. "But I do feel like our guys have stepped up. To [make the trade] you had to feel OK about spreading the load through the rest of the group."

That group now includes rookie receiver Jameson Williams, the player the Lions picked using the 12^th overall selection they got in an earlier trade with the Vikings. Williams returned from his torn ACL to make his NFL debut with eight snaps and no touches in last week's win over Jacksonville.

Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz, who recruited Hockenson out of a small high school in Chariton, Iowa, and guided him to the game's biggest stage, remembers first hearing the news of the trade.

"There was a time when you didn't trade inside your division," said Ferentz, who was Bill Belichick's offensive line coach with the Browns in the early 1990s. "Well, that still sounds like a good rule. Especially in this case for Detroit. I think the Vikings could be thrown in jail for pulling that trade off."

Born to play third downs

Curt Smyser was operating a run-oriented offense as the head football coach at Chariton High — until Hockenson, who had been turning heads around town since seventh grade, got to be about 15.

"His sophomore year, we totally changed our offense, went complete spread just to get T.J. the ball," Smyser said. "Tremendous hands and really great body control when he went up to get the ball, even at that age. I still have a photo of him going up to get a ball on a crazy catch right in bounds on a third-and-goal against Knoxville to set the state record for career touchdowns at 49."

Hockenson also played some safety, outside linebacker and even defensive end on occasion.

"We played Saydel one year and we worked all week with T.J. on what they would do when their offense got down by the goal line," Smyser said. "We put T.J. at safety and he cut in front of this short out route and took it 95 yards for a touchdown."

Ferentz loved Hockenson's skill set but had questions about the gangly youngster's toughness and willingness to learn how to block in the Big Ten.

"He came to our June camp and put those fears to rest because he was tough, a good athlete and one of the best humans you'll ever meet," Ferentz said. "He came in, redshirted and was on our scout team torching our defense, which was pretty good."

And, yes, Hockenson became a move-the-chains guy on third downs.

"We played Mississippi State in the Outback Bowl the year T.J. got drafted," Ferentz said. "It was a close game late. It's third-and-short and we really need to pick up a first down.

"T.J. takes a short pass and steps out of a couple tackles on a play no one on our roster the last decade could have made. He goes like 30, 35 yards. We don't score, but we flip the field and our defense closes it out."

The Vikings have converted 32 third downs and four fourth downs since the trade. Hockenson has been responsible for a quarter of them — eight on third down, including a touchdown, and one fourth-and-5 to set up a late touchdown in the 33-30 overtime win at Buffalo. Only Justin Jefferson (13) has converted more third downs. Third on that list is Dalvin Cook with four followed by K.J. Osborn (three), Cousins (two), Adam Thielen (one) and Jalen Reagor (one).

'A friendly target'

Cousins said Hockenson has been "showing up a lot" on key downs for a combination of reasons: "he's a friendly target" and "he's getting good matchups and he's been decisive with his routes." Some of it has to do with schemes and coach Kevin O'Connell's play-calling.

"We just try to give him opportunities to do things he's comfortable doing, that he's had success doing," O'Connell said. "And that happens to be a lot of things, which makes it fun as a coach."

The Hockenson trade coincided with Irv Smith Jr. landing on injured reserve with an ankle injury. Though Smith still has potential, Hockenson had more catches (nine) and more yards (70) in his first game as a Viking than Smith has had in any of his 38 games since 2019. Hockenson also had three of the team's seven third-down conversions that day.

"I was doing a lot of different things on third down in Detroit," he said.

The Vikings were reminded of that a year ago when they led the Lions with 23 seconds left at Ford Field. Detroit faced third-and-6 from the Minnesota 29. Guess who caught the 10-yarder to move the chains and set up the last-second touchdown.

"That's been my MO throughout my career," Hockenson said. "You can ask a lot of these guys in this locker room. There are guys in here who want the ball when we need to have it. That's definitely my mind-set. Get me the ball any week, this week in Detroit, and I can get the first down."

It's been a little more than a month since Hockenson left a 1-6 Lions team for a 6-1 Vikings team. The Lions had gone 12-42-2 during his stint with the team when he smiled from ear to ear while telling Twin Cities reporters, "What we're here to do is go somewhere and win some games. And that's kind of the first time I've been able to say that."

Hockenson laughed when asked this week how much grief he took for that comment.

"I don't know, probably some," he said. "But, hey, I'm spitting facts. It's not like I was making a false statement. Being in this locker room, we're here to go win games."