T.J. Hockenson the Lions best offensive weapon in camp

 

by Steven Mullenax

 

The Detroit Lions entered training camp with several questions about their offense. That’s to be expected when your trade away your longtime franchise quarterback who also happened to be the team’s best overall player in the offseason.

With Matthew Stafford no longer under center, the new regime in Detroit has kicked off a new offensive era in the Motor City … for better or worse. And the first player to try and fill Stafford’s shoes is actually a two-time Pro Bowler (one more than Stafford) in Jared Goff.

But the questions about the offense don’t necessarily start with Goff, but rather the lack of talent surrounding him. Specifically his makeshift wide receiver corps. The new-look Lions parted ways with nearly every starting receiver they had on the roster last season and replaced them with free-agent veterans on one-year deals and unproven rookies.

It’s so bad in Detroit that Pro Football Focus recently slotted the Lions’ wide receiver corps next-to-last, 31st overall, in their ranking entering the 2021 NFL regular season. And although this group has potential, that’s about all they have.

Luckily, Goff comes to Detriot with a ready-made number one offensive weapon to target. And that’s tight end T.J. Hockenson. The former eighth overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft is fresh off his first Pro Bowl season and is ready to become the top receiver for this new era in Motown.

According to Kyle Meinke of MLive.com, Hockenson has also been the best offensive skill player through two weeks of camp. Here’s what fellow tight end Darren Fells told MLive.com recently about his Pro Bowl teammate…

“In my mind, [Hockenson’s] one of the top tight ends in the NFL. He can go out there, and like you guys saw, make big plays when called upon. Great blocker as well. When he’s next to me, I feel like there’s no weakness in there. With Hockenson, you know exactly what you’re going to get.”

 

In 2020, Hockenson more than doubled his production from his rookie season. The 24-year old racked up 67 receptions for 723 yards and six touchdowns earning himself that first Pro Bowl nomination.

Triple coverage? No problem.@JaredGoff16🎯@TheeHOCK8 #LionsCamp | @RocketMortgage pic.twitter.com/U9Jfvqh9Rm

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) August 6, 2021

With so many questions lingering about the Detroit Lions wide receiver corps, Jared Goff still has a reliable number one receiving target in T.J. Hockenson. And from the reports and highlight videos coming out of training camp so far, it appears these two are quickly building chemistry that could result in the Lions surprising those who are already counting 2021 as a lost season in Detroit. 

CBS Sports: 2021 NFL Survivor Squad

 

Original article: 2021 Survivor Squad: Building a 32-man juggernaut with one pick from every single team

4. Presenting the NFL's 2021 survivor squad

For the second straight year, Jared Dubin is giving us his survivor squad. If you don't have any idea what a survivor squad is, don't worry, I didn't either until about five minutes ago. Basically, the goal is to make something similar to a Pro Bowl roster, but with one huge catch: You can only use one player from each team.

The Chiefs might be the best team in the AFC, but you can't put both Patrick Mahomes AND Tyreek Hill on the Survivor Squad because Kansas City is only allowed to have one player on the team.

With that in mind, let's check out the offensive players on Dubin's survivor squad:

QB: Aaron Roders, Packers RB: Dalvin Cook, Vikings WR: D.K. Metcalf, Seahawks WR: A.J. Brown, Titans Slot: CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys TE: George Kittle, 49ers TE: T.J. Hockenson, Lions LT: Laremy Tunsil, Texans LG: Ali Marpet, Buccaneers C: Corey Linsley, Chargers RG: Brandon Scherff, Washington RT: Lane Johnson, Eagles Flex: Ja'Marr Chase, Bengals

If you want to see the defensive starters and the coaching staff from the survivor squad, be sure to click here. The one thing about the defensive starters is that none of them can come from the 13 teams listed above.

***

2021 NFL Survivor Squad: Building a 32-man juggernaut with one pick from every single team

Our second annual survivor squad is here with a caveat

By Jared Dubin

 

August 5, 2021

Last offseason, we unveiled our first NFL Survivor Squad, trying to build the best possible roster using one representative and only one representative from each of the 32 NFL teams. Well, we're here to do that again -- but with a twist this time around. 

To make things more challenging on myself and avoid just reprinting the same article we ran this time last year, I unilaterally declared every player and coach that made last year's roster ineligible for this year's exercise. That means none of Bill Belichick, Greg Roman, Robert Saleh, Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey, DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Evans, Michael Thomas, Zach Ertz, Darren Waller, Kenny Golladay, Jake Matthews, Quenton Nelson, Brandon Linder, Zack Martin, Jack Conklin, Von Miller, Khalil Mack, Aaron Donald, J.J. Watt, Kenny Clark, Kyle Van Noy, Bobby Wagner, Eric Kendricks, Tre'Davious White, James Bradberry, Chris Harris Jr., Minkah Fitzpatrick, Jamal Adams, Tress Way, Randy Bullock, or Adoree' Jackson were considered for the team. 

Obviously, that opened things up considerably. Eliminating the best quarterback (Mahomes) and best defensive player (Donald) forced us to get much more creative in our roster-building, and doing so led to many more players than there were last year in consideration at almost every position. It also led to a lot of different roster configurations, which was fun as part of the exercise but probably not so good for my sanity. 

In an exercise like this, it's important to know exactly how you want to build your team. To compete in the modern NFL, you have to recognize that the passing game is king, and build the roster accordingly. So, in all toss-up decisions, the tiebreaker was whichever would help our offense throw the ball and our defense stop the opposing offense from doing the same. 

Excited for the biggest NFL schedule in history? Follow along on the CBS Sports app and get the latest insights from our team of NFL insiders, plus news from our team of experts, as well as data insights on every player. If you already have the CBS Sports app, make sure to favorite the your favorite team so you don't miss a thing!

Once again, we wanted our team to be as flexible as possible -- especially on defense, where the ability to disguise what you're doing and have players fill multiple roles depending on the snap is paramount. So, pass-catching running backs, receivers who could play on the perimeter or in the slot, defensive linemen who could flex to the edge or inside, linebackers that excel against the run and the pass, and safeties who could drop down into the box, play up high, or slide to the slot were all things that we looked for in building the roster. 

All that said, a few quick notes before you get to the reveal of the full roster: 

·        The players selected at each position are not necessarily the best players at that particular position, but those that made the most sense on a roster where you can only (and have to) take one representative from each team. Laremy Tunsil isn't the NFL's best left tackle, but he's the only Texans player even remotely worthy of consideration for this exercise so he made the team.

·        The same is true of the players listed in the "also-considered" section. 

·        Tunsil was the only "must-have" player this year. All 31 other teams had players or coaches in consideration at multiple positions. 

Without further ado, let's walk through our squad.  

Tight Ends

Tight ends: George Kittle (49ers) and T.J. Hockenson (Lions)

Last year (ineligible): Zach Ertz (Eagles) and Darren Waller (Raiders)

We gave serious consideration to putting Kittle and Travis Kelce on this roster. In that construction, we would have gone with Frank Ragnow at center, John Harbaugh as head coach, and Derwin James as our flex defensive back. This version of the roster seems better, though. Hockenson is a solid fit as the second tight end, and we'd rather an offensive head coach at the helm than a CEO type like Harbaugh. Kittle is going to be on the field at all times anyway, given his facility as a blocker and pass-catcher, and Reid doesn't even have to change much about the way his offense works to incorporate a star with his talents. 

Also considered: Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, Dallas Goedert, Noah Fant, Mike Gesicki, Logan Thomas, Kyle Pitts, Robert Tonyan

Offensive line

Right guard: Brandon Scherff (Football Team)

Last year (ineligible): Zack Martin (Cowboys)

Scherff is an excellent all-around guard and it's hard to believe the Football Team has yet to find a way to come to an agreement with him on a contract extension. Like Martin, he is a success story for the "take a college tackle and kick him inside to guard" development path. In addition to being a really solid run and pass blocker, he's had only 23 penalties accepted across his six NFL seasons. Nice work.

Also considered: Elgton Jenkins, Gabe Jackson, Shaq Mason, Wyatt Teller

T.J. Hockenson shining bright for Detroit Lions offense

 

Updated Jul 31, 2:08 PM; Posted Jul 31, 2:08 PM

Detroit Lions training camp – July 31, 2021

By Kyle Meinke | kmeinke@mlive.com

 

ALLEN PARK -- You might not know Shaun Dion Hamilton’s name, but the man went step-for-step with T.J. Hockenson during a particularly impressive red-zone rep on Saturday.

Hamilton is a linebacker just trying to fight his way onto the roster bubble. Hockenson is a Pro Bowl tight end. So, yeah. Running in that guy’s hip pocket all the way to the pylon -- and getting his hand on the football while he was at it -- is pretty impressive.

And it still didn’t matter.

Hockenson ran a corner route, stayed with the play, and somehow managed to catch the ball off the carom while dragging his tippiest of tippy toes for a touchdown that was perhaps the most impressive play of camp so far.

“That’s fun in training camp,” Hockenson said after practice. “Just things like that are fun. Being able to make plays. You get opportunities throughout training camp, and when the ball’s in the air, it’s yours. That’s your mindset all the time. That’s always fun.”

By all appearances, Hockenson is having a lot of fun in camp. The offense has labored through some early struggles while they install a new system with a new quarterback and all new receivers. Things haven’t quite come together yet, especially down the field and in the red zone. But Hockenson continues to stand out during a terrific start to camp.

The former top-10 pick is coming off a fabulous sophomore season where he racked up 67 catches for 723 yards, more than any other tight end in the NFC, and made his first Pro Bowl. Not a bad Year 2 at all, especially when you consider the chaos and dysfunction that unfolded all around him. But he knows there’s still a lot of meat left on the bone, and put a plan together an offseason plan to be even better in Year 3.

He worked out in Nashville with other top tight ends like George Kittle. He also attended “Tight End University,” a gathering of some of the best players in the league at that position. Hockenson took home the belt at that summit as the heavyweight champ.

“There’s always ways to get better,” he said. “I want to be a lot better than I was last season. I think that’s every player’s goal, though. Looking at the film from last season, it’s kind of one of those things, yeah I had a Pro Bowl, but it’s not near where I could be or where I want to be. Blocking-wise, route-wise, there are some things I tried to clean up throughout the offseason and that’s showing up out here. We’re just cleaning up and trying to get ready for a good year this year.

“As a player, just being able to see how you move on the field, how you do different things, it’s fun to see the growth and just go back a year and be like, ‘Man, what was I doing?’ or ‘Man, what was this?’ Next year, I’ll probably do the same thing for this year. It’s exciting. It’s one of those things that you look forward to.”

So far, the results are obvious. Hockenson was the best offensive skill player on the field during the first four days of camp, exploding out his breaks to create separation against mismatched defenders and showing off his reliable hands when the ball did arrive.

The Lions are going to need Hockenson to have a big season too, considering all the talent they’ve lost in the passing game. Matthew Stafford was traded to the Los Angeles Rams, before Detroit parted in free agency with six of the seven receivers that caught passes for the club last season. Tyrell Williams, Breshad Perriman, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Kalif Raymond were among the notable receivers brought in to replace them, but have struggled to make plays consistently for the offense so far.

So new quarterback Jared Goff has turned frequently to Hockenson, and the big tight end continues to produce.

“I have seen that,” head coach Dan Campbell said. “I think that’s one thing that JG has not really had is a good receiving tight end that he can kind of let go to work and trust that, ‘All right, if the matchup’s there, I can go to this guy.’ I think Tyler Higbee at the Los Angeles Rams is a damn good tight end, believe me, that’s not what I’m saying, but Tyler’s job description is a little different than Hock. Hock’s got to be able to block, but I think Hockenson can be a real mismatch in the pass game. That’s really where I think he can excel, and you can feel Jared wants to go to him now. He sees it. So, I do see that rapport.”

Some more observations from Day 4 of camp:

-- Fans were allowed through the gates of Allen Park for the first time since 2019, and, man, could you feel the difference. Campbell kicked things off by addressing the crowd, his voice cracking as he talked about how everyone was counting out the team. The crowd loved it, and continued to show approval during some big plays, including Hockenson’s magnificent touchdown that occurred right in front of the far bank of fans.

Allen Park crowds haven’t exactly been known for providing a lot of energy over the years, but they showed up today.

“Everybody wants to count us out — we’re not good enough, we’re a bunch of losers,” Campbell told the crowd right before practice started. “And that’s OK. We’ll keep doing our work. Then they’ll show up and we’ll see what happens.”