Oct 15, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson (87) warms up before a game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports.
The Minnesota Vikings are set to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in Florida on Sunday. They will have T.J. Hockenson active for just the second time this season. He returned last week against the Indianapolis Colts, but it was understandably an easing of him back into the offense. Sunday could be an entirely different story.
All season long, Justin Jefferson has put up numbers. As the best wide receiver in the league, he remains open on a play-by-play basis. That’s not shocking, and it has played a large part in Sam Darnold’s continued development and production. That also means that secondary wide receiver Jordan Addison may have had his feelings hurt.
The other wideout was present in the news cycle plenty last week, and that translated to Addison being fed the ball at an otherwise unexpected level. Addison found the end zone and made one of the best catches we will see all year. With a big game under his belt and the ego potentially smoothed over, Darnold could turn to his shiny new weapon on Sunday.
Last year Hockenson put up a career-best 960 yards, and he did so in just 15 games. Of course, the Vikings didn’t have Justin Jefferson the whole season, but it was clear how big a part of the offense Hockenson was for the Vikings. His injury was significant, but it’s not one that typically has lingering effects. Now fully healthy, the expectation should be that he can return to a high level of production.
In his debut, Hockenson caught just three of four targets in 27 yards. That’s traditional tight end usage, but not what Minnesota envisions for theirs. Cam Robinson filled in admirably at the left tackle spot, but with Christian Darrisaw out for the season, the line should be expected to see something of a downgrade. Darnold can rely on shorter routes and crossing patterns from tight ends and running backs.
There are still nine games left for the Vikings, and they are squarely focused on being a playoff team this year. The better the offense as a whole can click, the more likely that is to become a reality. Hockenson is a major part of that, and his finding paydirt this weekend could spark a nice production run to keep him engaged.
Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes daily for Minnesota Sports Fan. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.