Photo: Fox Sports, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons²

T.J. Hockenson

Tight End, Minnesota Vikings · #87.

Player facts

Team: Minnesota Vikings
Position: Tight End
Number: 87
Born: Jul 3, 1997 (age 29)
Birthplace: Chariton, IA, USA
Height: 6' 5"
Weight: 248 lbs
College: Iowa
Experience: 8 seasons
Status: Active

Stats

2026 Offense

	REC	TGTS	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	FD	CAR	FUM	LST
Regular Season	23	27	202	8.8	1	22	13	0	0	0
Last 5 Games	23	27	202	8.1	1	22	13	0	0	0
Career	456	655	4,642	10.2	27	81	248	2	3	3

Advanced stats

2026 season through week 6. EPA per play is the points a play added to the team’s expected score; success rate is the share of plays that kept the offense on schedule; CPOE is completion percentage over what the throws’ difficulty predicted. Rank is by EPA per play.

	Plays	EPA/play	Success	CPOE	League rank
Receiving	27 targets	+0.63	59%		11th of 94

NFL data: nflverse, CC BY 4.0.

Recent games

			Receiving							Rushing					Fumbles
Date	Opponent	Result	REC	TGTS	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	FD	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	FUM	LST
Sun, Oct 11	@ NO	W 23-13	1	1	7	7.0	0	7	1	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Oct 4	vs MIA	W 15-10	13	13	119	9.2	0	22	8	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Sep 27	@ TB	W 23-16	2	4	11	5.5	0	6	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Sep 20	@ CHI	W 9-3	3	4	29	9.7	0	19	2	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Sep 13	vs GB	W 39-22	4	5	36	9.0	1	16	2	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0

Last 5 games. Click a game for its box score.

About

Thomas James Hockenson (born July 3, 1997) is an American professional football tight end for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, where he earned the John Mackey Award, as the nation's top tight end in college football. Hockenson was selected in the first round (eighth overall) of the 2019 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions.

From Wikipedia’s article on T. J. Hockenson, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.¹

Background

Early life

Hockenson grew up in Cherokee, Iowa and moved to Chariton, Iowa in his teenage years, where he attended Chariton High School and played football and basketball. Hockenson was a four-year letter winner as a tight end and defensive back and set school records for receiving yards in a game, season, and career. He led his team to the state playoffs as a senior and was named all-state first team that year. Hockenson was rated as a three-star recruit and the seventh-highest rated recruit in the state of Iowa in the class of 2016 by the 247Sports.com Composite, which aggregates the ratings of the major football recruiting services. He committed to the Iowa Hawkeyes on June 20, 2015.

College career

Hockenson redshirted his true freshman year in 2016. He was one of two tight ends in the starting lineup in Iowa's 2017 opener against Wyoming, along with Noah Fant. Hockenson recorded his first career receptions the next week against Iowa State, finishing with two catches for 41 yards in the game. He had his best game of the year in Iowa's upset victory over then-No. 3 Ohio State, where Hockenson led the team with five receptions for 71 yards and two touchdowns. He ultimately finished fifth on the team on the year with 24 receptions for 320 yards and three receiving touchdowns.

Hockenson was listed on the preseason watch list for the John Mackey Award going into the 2018 season, as was teammate Noah Fant. In an early season loss to rival Wisconsin, Hockenson set a career high with 125 receiving yards, including a 46-yard connection from quarterback Nate Stanley. He again eclipsed the 100-yard mark in an October 13 game against Indiana, where Hockenson recorded four receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns. He ultimately finished the season with 46 receptions for 717 yards and six touchdowns, leading the Hawkeyes in the first two categories and finishing one receiving touchdown behind Fant for the team lead. Hockenson was named first-team All-Big Ten Conference at tight end by the media voters, and second-team behind Fant by the coaches. Hockenson also won the Big Ten's tight end of the year award, the Kwalick–Clark Award. Hockenson was awarded the John Mackey Award, honoring him as the top tight end in college football in 2018. Hockenson is the second Hawkeye to receive the award, after Dallas Clark in 2002, and the first sophomore.

On January 14, 2019, Hockenson announced via Twitter that he would be leaving school early to declare for the 2019 NFL draft.

From Wikipedia’s article on T. J. Hockenson, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article.¹