It's a tight end's world and the Vikings have to get theirs going
TJ Hockenson has been limited by helping with blocking but JJ McCarthy needs to find him
By Matthew Coller
EAGAN — It’s a great time to be a tight end.
Heading into Week 9, there are 22 tight ends with at least 25 receptions. Go back to 2021 and there were only 11 TEs with 25+ catches at this point in the season. In 2019, there were just eight TEs to clear that threshold through eight weeks.
To take it a step further, there are 27 tight ends with at least 20 receptions. In 2019, only 18 big fellas cleared the 20-catch mark in the opening eight frames of the season.
There have always been high-end receiving tight ends. In 2019, there were three 1,000-yard TEs (Travis Kelce, Darren Waller and George Kittle). Heck, Vikings legend Steve Jordan had 859 yards in 1986, when offenses weren’t anywhere near as prolific as they are these days. But the sheer number of tight ends who can effectively make plays in the passing game appears to be increasing.
There are different theories for the reason that so many TEs are having an impact on offenses.
Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips thinks that a new generation of large playmakers who were inspired years ago are arriving.
“Maybe it started with [Antonio] Gates, these things kind of take a generation to show up,” Phillips said. “The Travis Kelce [type], who’s been around so long now that guys were watching him when they were kids and maybe the position is a little more sexy than it was when they were more blocking tight ends, more in-line all the time.
Phillips continued…
“These are guys that are making big plays for their teams and catching touchdowns, all those types of things. So maybe it’s just a little more attractive to young players to play that position and if you’re that type of body type, you have to decide [if] I’m a tight end. [Do] I want to catch passes or [do] I want to stick my hand in the ground and play D-end?”
Vikings safety Josh Metellus thinks that the rise in tight end usage is a response to defenses that attack with extra rushers. They are either in there to be underneath options to get the ball out of the QB’s hands or they can change the numbers game in the blocking scheme.
“The way the league has been shifting toward teams pressuring a lot more, a lot more different kinds of pressures, different kinds of looks… As defenses we’ve been trying to exploit that when teams have been in [three receiver] personnel, dictate the slide [protection], dictate the type of things we want the offense to do but when they’re in [two tight end] it’s a lot harder because it could go anywhere,” Metellus explained. “There’s been a lot of tight ends drafted early, so I think the position itself is definitely starting to grow.”
Metellus is spot on with the recent draft investments in tight ends. There have been 13 TEs picked in the first two rounds since 2023. There were only 8 taken that high in the previous four drafts.
As things are going swimmingly for tight ends, Vikings Pro Bowler TJ Hockenson has still been in the mix with 27 receptions (13th among TEs) and a 77% completion percentage on targets but he hasn’t been as much of a driver of the offense as in years past.
Between the time he was acquired by the Vikings in 2022 and the time safety Kerby Joseph tore his ACL — 25 games — Hockenson caught 155 passes on 213 targets for 1,479 yards and eight touchdowns. That’s a 107-catch, 1,000-yard pace over a full season.
He has played 18 games since the injury and caught 72 passes for 735 yards and just one touchdown.
Last year, there was a pretty clear explanation: He was coming back from a serious injury and quarterback Sam Darnold liked to push the ball downfield rather than checking it underneath. When Hockenson did get targeted, his average depth of target was 9.0 yards, a career high. He still finished with a solid overall 2024, ranking 7th in PFF receiving grade among TEs with at least 30 targets.
In training camp, he looked like the old Hock, catching passes daily from JJ McCarthy, culminating with a joint practice against the New England Patriots that made it appear the veteran TE would be back to his previous production.
But the 2025 season has not been kind to many in purple. McCarthy only threw 41 passes in the first two games and then he went down with an ankle injury, leaving a QB who just arrived in Minnesota in August to take the reins. The offensive line also dealt with a slew of injuries, forcing Hockenson to help on the edges much more than in the past.
“When you start talking about some of the things that’s happened along the O-line, you’re trying to give help here and there,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “There are defensive players on every defense we have played this season that can be schematical problems and because there’s very little scheme to limit their impact on the game, and sometimes it requires the tight ends to be selfless.”
That selflessness has usually been in the form of chipping edge players, which O’Connell called “unique to him.” The head coach pointed out that he has still made some impact plays off chips, but there’s no doubt that it has changed his job from past years.
Hockenson has been more of a hybrid WR/TE throughout his career, lining up in the slot on 39% of career snaps.
He explained how helping as a blocker impacts what he can do as a receiving option.
“It definitely effects you getting out because instead of looking at the coverage or running a deeper route, you’re running short routes or something where the quarterback as a viable outlet,” Hockenson said. “Sometimes it’s hard because you’re not able to read leverages and everything else like when you have a free release.”
This year Hockenson’s average depth of target has dropped to a career low 4.8 yards per attempt. His previous low was 7.6 ADOT.
Not that he’s expressing displeasure with the job. That’s what tight ends sign up for.
“It’s part of our position,” he said. “We do a lot in gameplans. They rely on us a lot to do a lot of different types of things that might not exactly show up in the stat sheet.”
Hockenson explained that the key to chipping is making edge rushers stop their feet. If you push them too hard, it might actually send them right into a stunt and make the tackle’s job harder.
“T.J., I would put a lot of things he does well ahead of helping on the edges, and it’s kind of a necessary thing when certain games and situations happen,” O’Connell said.
This Sunday against the Detroit Lions, the Vikings need Hockenson. They are the 11th best defense in points against and No. 1 in fewest plays allowed per possession.
Over his career, quarterbacks have a 72.0% completion percentage and 97.6 QB rating when targeting him and there’s nothing better for a young QB like McCarthy than to have a player who can find space and create easy completions. When talking about what McCarthy can learn from veteran Carson Wentz, O’Connell brought up a quick throw underneath to Hock against the Browns that turned into a key first down on the final drive.
But getting him going might require Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill — both listed as questionable — to be on the field. If not, they will have to work around shortcomings against a top-notch front seven unit.
More than anything, Hockenson’s decline in targets and the rise in some other TEs’ usage around the league demonstrates how much circumstances can dictate production.
The Vikings need the circumstances, especially QB play, to improve quickly. With it, Hock’s production will follow.
“There’s no question we want him to be heavily involved in the game,” O’Connell said.