When you are taken with the eighth overall pick in the NFL draft, there’s certainly a bit of expectation that naturally comes along with the situation. Lions rookie tight end T.J. Hockenson is no exception.
“Just the acclimation from college to pro, just those things,” Lions tight ends coach Chris White told the Detroit Free Press. “He’s going to learn a new offense that’s different. Really, all rookies just being on their own. He’s renting a house and all that stuff; getting through things that all rookies have to go through.”
The tight end position for the Lions this season will look much different than it did last year. Gone are Levine Toilolo, Michael Roberts, and Luke Willson. Here are Jesse James, Isaac Nauta, and Hockenson. With that amount of turnover comes a natural amount of expectation, especially on Hockenson since he is believed to be the foundation that the team can build the position around.
“He’s intelligent in the classroom and he takes it to the field,” White said of Hockenson. “So far, he’s had minimal mistakes, mentally. He is very demanding of himself. He puts a lot of pressure on himself, and I think that’s a good thing. He wants to do everything exactly the way it’s been coached.”
Playing tight end in the NFL can be a tremendous challenge early on in a career. The amount of responsibilities that come with the position can be overwhelming for some.
“Luckily, T.J. came from a college program that’s more pro-oriented than more college (oriented) where it wasn’t as spread out,” White said of Hockenson, who played college football at Iowa. “And he is familiar with being on the line of scrimmage, blocking defensive ends and making line calls and things like that, whereas a lot of these guys have never put their hand in the ground. So I think he has a step up there from a lot of tight ends.”
It goes without saying that although the eighth pick in the draft this year was surprising to some, but it’s clear that the Lions believe that they have found a winner.
