The Minnesota Vikings aren’t content with their 6-1 record.
That’s why, sensing an opportunity in a down year for most of the NFC, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made a big splash hours before the NFL’s trade deadline. The Vikings added T.J. Hockenson — a 25-year-old whose 15.3 yards per catch is tops among all tight ends in 2022 — to a receiving corps that already features Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.
The Detroit Lions will receive a second- and third-round pick in exchange for their former starting tight end, a fourth-rounder and an additional conditional fourth. Hockenson will immediately upgrade a position group led by Irv Smith Jr., Hockenson has 26 receptions for 395 yards in the middle of a Lions offense that passes a lot, but is still led by broken toy Jared Goff behind center.
The Vikings got a tight end upgrade. The Lions got a pretty decent draft haul. Who got the better end of this deal?
The details
Lions get: A 2023 second-round pick, a 2024 third-round pick
Vikings get: TE T.J. Hockenson, a 2023 fourth-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round selection
Trade! The #Lions are sending TE T.J. Hockenson to the #Vikings, sources tell me and @RapSheet.
Minnesota sends a 2023 second-round pick and 2024 third-round pick to Detroit for Hockenson, a 2023 fourth-round pick and a 2024 conditional fourth-round pick. pic.twitter.com/9P0ZjbS64g
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 1, 2022
Minnesota Vikings
Despite the 6-1 record, all was not well in Minnesota. The Vikings have zero wins against teams with records better than .500 this season. Their highest quality victory came against a Miami Dolphins team forced to play Skylar Thompson and Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback.
This team’s offense disappeared in a 24-7 primetime loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2. Kirk Cousins, suffering through a statistical slump in 2022, needed 46 passes to throw for only 221 yards and was intercepted three times. Smith was a relative bright spot for an offense stuck in neutral all evening; he had five catches on eight targets for 36 yards and a touchdown.
Hockenson brings additional firepower to that passing offense. He also limits the amount of double-teams opponents can throw at Jefferson. Additionally, he provides a viable threat to escape from his in-line blocking duties on play-action passes, which should help reduce the number of stacked boxes Dalvin Cook has to run face-first into. These are the kind of rising tide factors that should make this whole offense better.
Minnesota’s passing offense had dropped from 12th in DVOA in 2021 to 18th this season. Despite a 6-1 record, it was difficult to be entirely optimistic about the team’s postseason chances — especially with a passing defense that barely rates as a top 20 unit. Adding Hockenson makes it easier to believe in the Vikings, especially if he can help Cousins rediscover the top gear that makes him dangerous in stretches — though unfortunately never for as long as Minnesota fans would like.
Grade: B+
Detroit Lions
The Lions are destined to add a marquee quarterback prospect to the roster in next year’s draft. Whomever it is won’t have Hockenson as a seam-busting security blanket.
Dealing away the team’s starting tight end works in service to Detroit’s rebuild. It also signals either a lack of confidence or desire about extending Hockenson before his rookie contract expires following the 2023 season. The former first round pick was on pace to set career highs in every statistical category you can think of, so it made sense to sell high if there was no future between player and team.
There’s a chance the Lions regret this. It hinges on Hockenson staying productive and healthy — he’d played only 12 games in two of his first three seasons in the league — but a dearth of quality tight ends is a very real concern in the NFL. We’ve seen how linebacker-roasting, safety-controlling in-line ends can lift a young quarterback. Travis Kelce did it for Patrick Mahomes. Dallas Goedert has been an integral, if overlooked, piece of Jalen Hurts’ development.
It may be a stretch to suggest Hockenson could have been that guy for C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young or whomever in 2023 and beyond, but not ridiculous. Hockenson’s seven-game sample to start 2022 could be an outlier in what’s otherwise been an “occasionally good, mostly OK” career. Or it could be a sign of things to come.
The Lions bet on the former and wrung as much value as they could for it. That’s a good move, even if it could leave their next franchise quarterback vulnerable in 2023.
Grade: B
