Further removed from the torn ACL that ended his 2023 season a few weeks early, and with J.J. McCarthy taking over as the Minnesota Vikings' starting quarterback, the fantasy football arrow pointed up for tight end T.J. Hockenson heading into the season.
Through the first two games of the season, that did not come close to coming to fruition. Hockenson totaled just four catches for 27 yards against the Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons, and he was outside the top-40 fantasy tight ends to that point.
McCarthy suffering an ankle injury in Week 2, and for what it's worth, the change to Carson Wentz as the starting quarterback looked to be a good thing for Hockenson. Before Wentz's first start, in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals, PFF's Michelle Magdziuk offered some extra statistical proof of that.
"Among the 34 quarterbacks with 1,500 or more pass attempts since 2018, Wentz has the second-highest tight-end target percentage at 29.2%, trailing only Lamar Jackson. Wentz has averaged 9.6 targets per game to tight ends in that span."
A 48-10 win over the Bengals could have brought a fantasy dud for Hockenson, but he had five catches for 49 yards and a touchdown on six targets. In Week 4 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Hockenson had four catches (on five targets) for 39 yards on a clear season-high 93.4 percent snap share.
As noted recently by PurpleForTheWin on X, the Vikings' injury-forced offensive line issues have left Hockenson to help with pass blocking, even if it's most often just to chip an edge rusher on his way to running a route.
Those offensive line issues aren't going away, with right tackle Brian O'Neill facing a multi-week absence due to a sprained MCL he suffered against the Steelers.
But if the Vikings ever have everyone up front healthy, that will be good for Hockenson. Or maybe Josh Oliver sees more work as a second tight end, tasked with staying in to block more often than not.
Minnesota Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson offered as help to weary fantasy managers
Bye weeks will come into the lives of NFL fans and fantasy managers in Week 5, and for every week but one through Week 14. That thins the landscape of starting options at the thinnest position there is in fantasy, and Hockenson managers are likely left to start him pretty much every week, no matter what.
Week 5 brings a tough matchup for Hockenson. The Cleveland Browns are top-10 in fantasy points allowed to tight ends so far this season, and they'd be even better without two touchdowns allowed to the position.
Then the Vikings have their bye in Week 6, but with eyes beyond that, PFF's Nathan Jahnke has Hockenson among his five players to buy low on in fantasy heading toward Week 5.
"He (Hockenson) played 80% of the team's offensive snaps in Week 1, which was better than any game in 2024. They didn’t use him as much in two-tight-end sets in Week 2, but that bounced back in Week 3.
He played 85% of the snaps before garbage time, but his playing time dipped due to garbage time. In Week 4, he was up to 93% of the snaps, the best for him in a game since 2023.
He was targeted in at least 21% of plays in the first three weeks when his quarterback was not under pressure, as well as first-read targets. Offensive line injuries left Carson Wentz under pressure a lot in Week 4.
Minnesota has a rough schedule over the next few weeks, which includes its bye week, but the Vikings have the best schedule for tight ends from Week 9 to Week 17. If you’re OK with being patient at the position, Hockenson should be a top-five player over the second half of the year."
It isn't exciting to have Hockenson on a fantasy roster right now, and it's unclear if it will ever get notably better over the rest of the season. But there is optimism to be culled from the schedule stretch Jahnke mentioned.
On Hockenson's slate from Week 9-17, the Detroit Lions (Week 9 and 17), Green Bay Packers (Week 12), Seattle Seahawks (Week 13), and Washington Commanders (Week 14) all enter Week 5 in the bottom-10 of the league against tight ends (Yahoo! scoring). The Baltimore Ravens (Week 10) are bottom-12 against the position right now, and the Dallas Cowboys (Week 15) are not exactly a tough matchup.
Hockenson being a top-five fantasy tight end over the second half of the season is a little aggressive. But it wouldn't take much for him to be top-10 at the position during the most important time of the season for fantasy managers.
If you're struggling at tight end, it's worth floating a trade offer to the manager in your league who has the Vikings' tight end.